Stolen Time
by CountOnIllusions
Summary: If she was honest she had always known there wasn't going to be any happily ever after. She had known it from the very beginning. And still, somewhere deep inside, she had harboured the hope that even in darkness there might exist happiness. Lasting happiness. But darkness is consuming. Darkness is inexorable. And darkness is lasting. Everlasting.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: This is the sequel to my stories "Poison" and "Perception".**

 **Even though it is not necessary to read these first, it is probably useful to know their content :) So please feel invited to have a look at Poison and Perception, if you haven't read them yet!**

 **Chapter One**

Tom slowly looked up. He sensed the warmth of Cassiopeia's body and her breath, so close to him. His eyes fell on the corpse in front of him. Dumbledore. He still couldn't believe he had finally done it. He had finally got rid of the man, this disturbing man who had mistrusted him from the very beginning, who had consistently tried to bring him down and deprive him of the one thing that mattered most to him, his power. Tom smirked. It was truly ironic that in the end Dumbledore had involuntarily even bestowed an invaluable means of power on him. Tom gazed down at the wand in his hand. The Unbeatable Wand.

Tom carefully scanned the dark corners of the hall. His future self had to have been here. He narrowed his eyes. For the first time ever he wondered just exactly how many years his future counterpart had travelled back in his mission to save him from wrecking his existence.

And then, quite unexpectedly, a disturbing thought struck him. Never in all those years of travelling, researching, exploring, experimenting and studying had he ever come across a time turner that had been capable of sending its user back more than a few hours, maybe a couple of days at the most. But his future self had to have travelled back at least twenty-five years, taking into account that he had already been there the night of the creation of his second Horcrux and that he obviously had still been here today.

That meant that his future self had to have had access to a time turner that was much stronger and much more refined than all the ones Tom knew to exist. Which consequently meant that, to ensure the consistency of the timelines, he would need to have access to such a time turner when the time came for him to use it. Tom tensed. If there wasn't any such time turner in existence so far, he would need to create one. And he would have to do so quickly because he had absolutely no idea how much time he had left.

"What's up? You are looking as though you've seen a ghost." Cassiopeia threw him a worried glance.

Tom exhaled sharply. "I think there's something I have to tell you." He paused. "But first we have to make sure they know their hero is gone." He threw a condescending glare at Dumbledore's body. "And we have to prevent that they make him a martyr and his grave a shrine."

He got up and pocketed Dumbledore's wand. Then he waved his own wand at Dumbledore and the body vanished. Tom cast a last quick look around the hall before he held out his arm for Cassiopeia to take. The moment she grabbed it, he pulled her into the spinning darkness of Apparition.

When they reappeared they were in the courtyard outside the entrance doors of Hogwarts. Tom turned towards the castle and magically amplified his voice. "Listen to me! The fight is over. Your hero chose to leave, and I advise you to do the same if you know what's good for you."

His voice echoed from the castle's walls around them, the sound of it cold and cruel. Cassiopeia glanced at Tom. He looked complacent in a way she had never seen before. She knew he had finally achieved his aim. He had defeated Dumbledore. Hogwarts was finally his.

When Tom realized that Cassiopeia was looking at him he returned her gaze, daring her to comment. His eyes were sparkling with satisfaction and his magic was crackling powerfully around him. When Cassiopeia remained silent, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. With a swift movement he grabbed Cassiopeia's left wrist and shoved her sleeve away, revealing the faint red scarred outline that covered her inner forearm. For a second they both looked at it. Then Cassiopeia averted her gaze. She knew too well what he was going to do, he had done it innumerable times before after all. But she still despised being part of this means of communication that made her feel so much like one of his pawns.

Tom pressed his finger against the scar on Cassiopeia's skin. Immediately she felt a burning sensation spread in her arm. With a stern expression on her face she looked back at the mark and watched it grow jet black. Tom's Death Eaters who were fighting inside the castle would sense its burning just like she did. It would alert them to apparate to their master.

Tom and Cassiopeia didn't have to wait for long. One after the other the Death Eaters appeared out of thin air in the courtyard. Cassiopeia glanced at the men who were wearing black robes and hoods to cover their faces. Even though their faces were in the shadows Cassiopeia could tell who they were. She had seen the lot of them so many times more than she would have preferred. They had grown older, now all in their early forties, but they still watched Tom with the same mixture of frightened admiration and blinded devotion. There were a few that had not been at Hogwarts and had joined his ranks later but all in all they were mainly the same Slytherin gang they had been during their time at Hogwarts.

Lestrange was the last to arrive. Tom threw his Death Eaters an inquiring look.

Lestrange drawled, "Well, my opponent didn't continue fighting when he heard that Dumbledore was gone, my lord." He cast a glance at his companions.

Malfoy, Nott and Dolohov nodded their consent.

Avery stowed his wand. "I think the ones that hadn't been finished off yet fled when you announced your victory, my lord. So what are we going to do now?"

Tom glanced at the hooded group. "Cast the mark and then leave. We'll continue just as planned. You all know what to do."

The men nodded silently. Rosier stepped forward. He pointed his wand at the sky and murmured the incantation they all knew so well. The Dark Mark appeared in the gloomy sky, its glittering emerald green outline testifying yet another victory of the Dark Side.

Cassiopeia threw a glance at the sky and eyed the mark for a moment, taking in its sinister beauty, a strange feeling of pride in the depths of her body. It really suited Tom perfectly, even if frankly she had never intended for the incantation to be used so frequently. Tom noticed her looking at the cloudy sky and the ghost of a smile crossed his face. He vividly remembered the icy cold Scottish December night when he had seen the mark for the very first time. He quickly turned towards Cassiopeia and hissed in a low voice, "My place in one hour", before he shot his Death Eaters another glance and commanded, "Now leave, all of you." Then he turned on the spot and was gone.

When Cassiopeia apparated to Tom's lair one hour later he was standing in front of the fireplace, gazing into the flames, his hands in his pockets. Cassiopeia halted in the doorway, quietly observing him. Despite all the time that had passed he still looked like he was in his late twenties. Obviously his Horcruxes saved him from aging the way others did. He was still undeniably handsome, his neatly combed dark hair slightly wavy, his pale features alluringly illuminated by the flames of the fire. And even from the distance she could sense his magic radiating from him, powerful, dark, fascinating.

"Why did you do it?" Tom suddenly asked into the silence, his voice calm and low, his gaze firmly locked on the fire.

There was a hint of confusion in Cassiopeia's voice when she asked back, "Why did I do what?"

Tom didn't turn around. His eyes narrowed just the tiniest bit and he wasn't quite able to keep the accusation and bitterness out of his voice. "Make me believe you might be Muggle-born."

Cassiopeia flinched. She shortly wondered why he had come up with this now but then she remembered what she had told him before he had duelled Dumbledore. Of course she should have known that would run deep.

Cassiopeia took her time before answering. She had asked herself the same question so many times. Why had she done it? She knew she had wanted to make a difference. And she had so badly wanted to ease her burning conscience. She slowly walked closer to Tom until she was only a few feet away from him. Her voice was almost toneless when she said, "To stop you from blindly destroying innumerable innocent lives."

Tom slowly pulled his hands from his pockets and sent another piece of wood flying into the fire with his wand. Casually twirling his wand in his fingers and still facing the fireside he asked, "How did you know I wouldn't kill you right away?"

Cassiopeia swallowed and averted her gaze. "I didn't."

Tom abruptly turned around and quirked an eyebrow. "So you risked all we have just to save a bunch of people you don't even know?" He sounded incredulous.

Cassiopeia grimaced, not meeting his gaze. "It sounds stupid when you put it like that."

A mischievous smirk formed on Tom's face. "Well, it does not only _sound_ stupid."

Cassiopeia slightly gritted her teeth and looked back at him, a stubborn glint in her eyes. "But it worked, didn't it? It saved many lives."

Tom provocatively twirled his wand a little faster. "What makes you believe I don't go and kill them now that I know the truth?"

Cassiopeia cocked her head a little and looked into Tom's eyes. He returned her gaze, his features betraying no emotion whatsoever. After a moment Cassiopeia said, "Because you didn't kill me. And because now you know what doubt feels like."

Tom kept watching her, his dark eyes unreadable. Then he swiftly pocketed his wand and with a few paces he was standing in front of her. His voice was calm and low but still made Cassiopeia shiver. "That's very right. You made me feel things I had never imagined to exist and least of all expected to ever experience." He moved even closer and bent down to her. She could sense his breath on her skin when he whispered into her ear with a chillingly calm voice and carefully stressing every single word, "Never do that again."

Cassiopeia slightly leaned towards him, her voice equally low and clear. "I won't. You know, it hurt way too much."

She felt Tom's lips twitch into a smirk. His voice was smug when he whispered, "I guess that's good, now, isn't it?"

Cassiopeia snorted and pushed a little away from him. "So what did you want to tell me?"

Tom looked at her with a greedy expression in his eyes. "You know, right now I actually don't want to talk." He tightened his grip around her waist and without waiting for her reply he apparated them to his bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

Cassiopeia drew the covers closer around herself. She slowly rolled to the side and lightly ran her fingers over Tom's bare chest. A smile crossed her face. "You know, you never cease to surprise me."

Tom glanced at her and grinned. "I despise being predictable."

"So what about talking now?" Cassiopeia eyed him curiously.

Tom looked at her for another moment. Then he sat up and leaned back against the bed's headboard. He drew a deep breath and exhaled sharply. Finally he stated, "I know who attacked us back then on Hogwarts' grounds."

Cassiopeia looked momentarily taken aback. Then she collected herself. "You know...what? But who was it? For how long have you already known?"

"For a while," Tom answered evasively. "And as for whom..." He paused. "It was another Lord Voldemort."

Cassiopeia gasped, incredulously looking at him, her eyes wide. "What?" She sat up as well, the covers closely drawn around herself. "You mean to say that you yourself tried to kill me?"

Tom deliberately avoided her gaze. Through clenched teeth he said, "On the very contrary. I myself tried to save our existences."

"By cursing me into the Hospital Wing?" Cassiopeia asked exasperatedly.

There was a moment of silence. Then Tom said with a shrug, "If you want to put it like that."

Cassiopeia narrowed her eyes. "Well, that's what it felt like for me," she hissed.

Tom didn't reply. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Cassiopeia let his words sink in and suddenly everything fell into place. Suddenly things seemed to make sense at last. Tom's refusal to tell her what had happened that night. Dumbledore's reaction. And finally Tom's sudden change of mind concerning the creation of further Horcruxes. Cassiopeia pursed her lips. Clearly, he had already known about the stranger's identity for many years.

"So you've known for a while, huh? Has been a rather long while, hasn't it?" Cassiopeia stated drily. Yet she was aware that even though she would have preferred if he had told her earlier, this time she couldn't actually blame him for keeping his secret. Messing with time was dangerous. The more people knew the riskier it was.

Tom threw her a sideways glance. He knew she didn't expect an answer.

Cassiopeia looked back at him, searching his face. He had to have told her for a reason. She wasn't fool enough to believe that he had simply wanted to confide in her. He always had an ulterior motive and she wondered what it was this time. Seeing that once again his face was the completely blank mask it usually was, she decided to ask him straight. "Then why tonight? What's the reason for your sudden honesty? What do you need?"

Tom suppressed a smirk. It still astonished him time and time again that she knew him so damn well. Finally he shrugged. "Well, there's a complication that only occurred to me today. In the former timeline I must have had access to a time turner that's completely different from the ones I know to exist. And for all I know I have to acquire an equivalent time turner in this timeline. Because there will come the time when I will have to go back to the past for time to stay consistent. I'm sure I don't have to tell you what might happen if I don't. So I need a time turner that can send me back more than a quarter of a century."

Cassiopeia's eyes widened just the slightest bit and she swallowed hard, not meeting his gaze. "You need a time turner that can send you back more than twenty-five years?" she asked hoarsely.

Tom slowly nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "Obviously."

Cassiopeia stared at the covers, her mind racing. Absentmindedly she replied, "I'm sure you'll find a solution, you always do."

When Cassiopeia returned to Houlton Manor that night she stopped outside the gates, taking in the surroundings she had called her home her entire life. After her father's death her brother had inherited the mansion. The first years after her father's decease Cepheus had kept expecting for her to get married. But eventually he had come to accept that Tom or rather Lord Voldemort would clearly never consider getting married at all and that Cassiopeia would never consider marrying anyone else. Cepheus had never commented on her choice but he had let her stay at Houlton Manor. Cepheus himself had continued working for the Ministry for a while before he had quite unexpectedly quit the job and left for the continent. At least that had been the information in the last letter Cassiopeia had received from him so long ago. At first she had believed he had gone abroad because he had always been fond of travelling, open-minded and interested in other countries. But as time had gone by and Cepheus had never returned or at least written a letter she had begun to doubt that he had actually ever left. Still Cassiopeia had never tried to investigate his whereabouts because deep inside she knew that probably she didn't want to face the truth.

Cassiopeia strolled along the path that was leading towards the house. Tom had always been ruthless. She had known that from the very beginning. Still what he had told her tonight had been quite difficult to grasp. His future self had returned years and years into the past to save him from creating further Horcruxes. Doubtlessly quite a noble thing to do. But just like Tom was, his future self had stopped at nothing to achieve his aim. He had attacked them, attacked her, cursed her. Cassiopeia clenched her teeth. She could still recall the endless pain his curse had caused her. It had taken days and weeks for the pain to finally subside. The curse he had hit her with had been cruel and remorseless. Cassiopeia exhaled sharply. If she was honest she wasn't surprised. Tom had never wasted any thought on the pain he inflicted on others after all. He always just did what he thought needed to be done, mercilessly and without batting so much as an eyelid.

Cassiopeia sat down on the bench in front of the house, facing the front yard. Involuntarily her thoughts travelled back all those years, reviving memories she had deliberately buried somewhere very deep down, intending to never recall again. Memories which were ugly, humiliating and painful. Slowly, in her mind's eye, an image started forming, a little clouded and very unbidden. A handsome face with piercing deep blue eyes and messy dark blond hair. A face she had wanted to never think of again and yet she knew she would never be able to forget.

She bit her lip. Eventually she would not only have to remember, she would have to share the memory, share it with the very one person she wanted to see it the least.

Cassiopeia bit her lip even harder. Why ever did it have to have been him who had told her about the time turner? Why couldn't it have been one of the various other wizards they had met? Cassiopeia bent forward and rested her head in her hands. She knew she would have to tell Tom eventually. But somehow she dreaded it, dreaded his reaction. Finally she got up and went to her room. It didn't have to be tonight after all.

 **Author's note: Thanks so much for reading and thanks to all who followed and favorited! I would really love to know what you think about the story, so maybe you leave a review?! :-) Your feedback really makes my day!**


	3. Chapter 3

Cassiopeia had postponed telling Tom again and again for nearly a month. But as the weeks had passed she had witnessed Tom growing more and more tense. Cassiopeia had never seen him so concerned and she knew she couldn't keep the information from him any longer, no matter how reluctant she was.

After dinner she went to the living room of Houlton Manor. She pulled her wand from her robes and carefully pressed it against the scar on her left arm. She concentrated on the burning sensation that spread in her arm, thoughtfully watching the mark change its colour once again. The black had barely reached the last inch of the outline when Tom was already standing in front of her. He didn't say anything, only gazed at her.

Cassiopeia looked back at him. "I didn't expect you to be here that fast."

Tom quirked an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at his lips. "You haven't used the mark voluntarily in a long time. I was curious to see what made you touch it."

Cassiopeia averted her gaze and shifted her weight uncomfortably. "I remembered something from very long ago. Something you might want to know." Her voice was slightly hoarse. When Tom didn't react, she cleared her throat. "Someone once told me about a time turner that might be able to send you back for about a century. I don't know if it's working because it hadn't been finished yet and it was never tried..." Her voice trailed away.

"Who?" Tom's voice sounded harsher than he had intended.

Cassiopeia pursed her lips. "Someone in Albania."

Tom furrowed his brows. "Albania?"

Cassiopeia remained silent for a moment. Then she said quietly, "I think you know."

Tom's eyes narrowed instantly. The next moment he held his wand in his hand. "Show me." Realizing how blunt he had sounded he added, unconvincingly, "Please."

Cassiopeia glanced at him. His face had for once lost the usual blank expression and his anger was plainly showing. Cassiopeia was not at all keen on letting him inside her mind in this state. She could still remember how badly it had hurt when he had ripped angrily through her mind all those years ago after he had failed to erase her memory. Yet she knew she couldn't back out now. Clenching her teeth, she nodded and leaned against the wall behind her, closing her eyes. She had barely lowered her mental barriers when she felt Tom enter her mind. She quickly shoved the memory he wanted to the front of her mind.

 _Cassiopeia was sitting at the kitchen table in Floris' shack, her elbow on the table, propping up her chin. She was watching Floris who was sitting opposite her. He was carefully fumbling with a tiny, delicate looking object in his hands. After observing him for some time she finally asked, "What are you working at?"_

 _Floris looked up, an excited gleam in his sparkling deep blue eyes. There was a mischievous smile playing around his lips. "That's been my little project for a while now." He ran a hand through his messy dark blond hair. "Do you want to see?"_

 _Cassiopeia nodded and Floris laid the small device on the table. There were various rings entwined with each other and something similar to an hourglass in the middle. Cassiopeia looked at the little object. It seemed to be a time turner but it looked very different from the ones she had seen so far. Cassiopeia shot Floris a curious look. "It's a time turner, isn't it? But...," she paused and inspected the object closer, "it looks strange." Her voice was questioning._

 _Floris grinned. "Yes, it's indeed a time turner. But I've been working at it for quite some time now, refining and changing it. When I'm done it's supposed to be able to send me back more than a century." His excitement was obvious._

 _Cassiopeia cocked her head. "A century?"_

 _Floris took the time turner back in his hands and carefully touched the rings. "As long as I can remember I've always been fascinated by the concept of time and time travel. The thought of being able to travel back in time, and I mean really back, not just some hours but a few hundred years, that's so exciting. Time is such a complex matter and it makes meddling with it so dangerous and yet so fascinating. Being able to go back and see what happens...I've wanted to try that I don't know for how long." He glanced at the time turner in his hands. After a moment he continued, "Unfortunately, just like all the others, it will only be able to send me back in time, not forward. That means there's no way to return to the present. If I go back really far, I'll never see my time again unless I live much longer than normal." He laughed. "But I'm not one for immortality issues. So no way for me to return once I've left. I guess that's why I haven't tried yet."_

 _"Do you think it already works the way you expect it to?"_

 _"Maybe. I've been refining it again and again. Meddling with time should never be underestimated. It needs proper planning. I like to check and double check everything, make sure I didn't miss anything." Floris carefully pocketed the little time turner. "What about you? Wouldn't you like to see another time?"_

 _Cassiopeia was just thinking about it when the door opened. Floris and Cassiopeia turned to look at the door just in time to see Tom enter the room. Tom threw an intent look at Cassiopeia. "We have an appointment in the village in ten minutes. We need to get going." His voice was commanding._

 _Cassiopeia sighed._

 _Floris shot her a knowing smile and whispered, "You don't need to go. You can stay here if you want to."_

Tom narrowed his eyes. He felt his temper flare dangerously and quickly retreated from Cassiopeia's mind. He had to fight to keep his temper in check, cold fury pulsing through his veins. He should have paid more attention to Floris already back then. Maybe then it wouldn't have escaped his notice how obvious Floris' intentions had been even then and he would never have left Cassiopeia alone with this scum.

With deep satisfaction Tom remembered the panic and horror in Floris' eyes when he had finally realized that Tom's snakes were going to squeeze the last bit of air out of him, strangling him slowly and painfully, making him pay for how he had done them wrong, how he had done him wrong. Tom clenched his jaw. How could he have dared to actually touch what was so obviously his?

Tom vividly remembered the rage he had felt when he had returned to this miserable shack and had seen this filth hunched over Cassiopeia. Instantly, he had wanted to take revenge. He had never wanted revenge so badly. And he had gotten revenge after all. Cassiopeia had tried to stop him once again but of course that had been out of the question that time. Tom's fist tightened around the wand in his hand. Why ever had she even wanted to stop him? Why had she cared what happened to Floris? How could she care at all, after what he had done that night?

Tom felt his temper flare again. He glared at Cassiopeia who was standing in front of him, her back against the wall, her eyes not meeting his gaze. Tom had to suppress the sudden desire to re-enter her mind and rip through it in search for the memory of what had happened that night prior to his return. He saw Cassiopeia flinch just the slightest bit and instinctively knew she was remembering that night as well. Tom felt his fury slowly take over. Why did she avoid his gaze? After all, usually she never did. His magic was radiating aggressively from him and he didn't even try to rein it in.

Cassiopeia sensed the uproar in Tom's magic as it was crackling savagely around him and its violent vibrancy sent shivers down her spine. She instinctively knew he was thinking about Floris, about what had happened that night before he had killed him. She had felt Tom's cold fury when he had witnessed her interaction with Floris. It surely had cost him quite some strength to keep his temper in check. A sensation of inexplicable warmth spread inside herself, knowing that he had only restrained his anger to avoid hurting her. Cassiopeia was very much aware that he would never have done this for anyone else and a smile crossed her face. When she looked up at Tom his features were a blank mask but she could still catch a glimpse of the suppressed emotion burning in the depths of his eyes.

"Do you want to see?" Cassiopeia's voice was hoarse again. Her question caught Tom off guard and something akin to surprise flashed through his eyes. Hesitantly Cassiopeia touched his hand. His knuckles were white with the force he was applying to his wand. "I'll show you if you want me to. I've got nothing to hide." She paused. "Granted, he might have said some intriguing things. But for nothing in this world would I have ever even thought of betraying your trust." A small smile flickered across her lips. "After all, I fought way too hard for it to just throw it away." Cassiopeia tightened her grip on Tom's hand, her gaze locked with his. "Do it."

Tom stared back at her. She was looking him in the eyes again, fearless, unwavering. Tom clenched and unclenched his jaw, knowing he had to make his decision quickly. There was no panic in her eyes, no resentment. He knew she hated letting him inside her mind and yet she had offered to show him even though this memory was surely nothing he needed to know. He had not even had to ask. Once again he marvelled at the power of this still so strange and incomprehensible mindset that made her act like she did.

Tom threw her another glance before he slowly pulled his hand away from hers, stowing his wand. He shook his head. "No."

Cassiopeia couldn't quite believe her ears. Never before had Tom refrained from a possibility like this one. But before she could react, Tom had turned on the spot, leaving her staring at the vacant place he had just disapparated from.

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading, following and favouriting! You guys are great :-)**


	4. Chapter 4

Tom reappeared on a meadow near the cliffs at the coast. He wasn't quite sure why he had come here of all places but somehow it had been the first location that had come to his mind when apparating away from Cassiopeia.

He let his gaze wander over the landscape. Not far away from where he was standing a narrow path led down the cliffs. Without seeing where it ended Tom knew it wound all the way down to a small cove with a beach. When the tide was low this cove was connected to another one a little to the left.

A sneer crossed his face. He remembered the first time he had been there, so many years ago. It had been another life then. He had explored that hidden cove that was only reachable through waist deep water at low tide. None of the other children of the orphanage had dared to go there and he had relished not having to see their disgusting faces and endure their mean behaviour for a whole day. He remembered how he had discovered the entrance to a cave behind a lot of rocks and how excited he had been to go in there.

Ever since he had found that cave he had looked forward to their annual daytrip to the coast. The older he had got the more exciting it had been. It had been the one and only place where he had been able to try his magic without risking having to face Mrs. Cole's ill temper. Of course, back then he hadn't known it was magic he was performing. He clenched his fist as a wave of anger rolled through his body at the thought of his mother leaving him to rot at this wretched Muggle orphanage. She had been a witch, for Merlin's sake. If she hadn't been able to manage to stay alive she could at least have given birth to him at some place in the wizarding world instead of dumping him, the heir of Salazar Slytherin among all those filthy Muggle kids. A contemptuous smirk appeared on Tom's face. At least he had been able to pay them back for how they had done him wrong.

He remembered the two younger kids that had followed him to the secret cove one year. At first he had tried to scare them away, wanting to be alone. But as they had kept following him, he had changed his intentions and had lured them to the cave. It had been the perfect opportunity to try and see if his abilities also worked on humans. A wicked grin flickered across his lips. It had doubtlessly been the best afternoon of his up to then so miserable life. His magic had already been strong then. Retrospectively he knew he had had unusually good control over his magic for a wizard his age. The curses had worked amazingly even though he had not even truly known what he had been doing. He had thoroughly enjoyed the time in the cave, with this amazing power inside of him. Tom smiled at the memory.

Of course, it had been a little troublesome to get the two kids back to the main beach without attracting attention, especially given the fact that they were suddenly no longer mentally stable and refused to speak at all, though the latter had certainly been advantageous for him. He had had to use all his manipulative powers and all his skills in acting and lying to make up a convincing story about what had happened. Yet everybody had bought his lie. Only Dumbledore had been suspicious when he had come to the orphanage that summer and Mrs. Cole had told him about the incidents that had happened when Tom was around. A cold glint shot through Tom's eyes. Fortunately, Dumbledore wouldn't be able to ever mistrust him again. With the memory of Dumbledore Tom's thoughts finally returned to the recent events that had made him come here in the first place. While he had been absorbed in his memories he had strolled down to the ocean and found himself standing in front of the cave once again. He sat down on a rock and watched the waves splashing against the cliffs. He definitely needed to get his thoughts straight.

He recalled the memory Cassiopeia had shared with him. He didn't understand how he could have been so oblivious. Back then in Albania he had spied on the mind of every single wizard they had consorted with, and Floris had been no exception. Yet Floris' ambitions concerning time travel had completely escaped his notice and he had known nothing about it. Tom's eyes narrowed. Obviously Floris had been unusually skilled at Occlumency.

Grudgingly, Tom had to admit that apparently he had missed a lot of details concerning Floris. He clenched his jaw. There was no denying that he had been too careless in regard to this still so young and yet so cunning wizard. Floris had been very different from the other wizards they had met, and even though Tom had not realized it then, he and Floris had probably been more alike than he had thought. No matter how much he disliked it, he couldn't deny that Floris had actually been truly skilled. He knew that, even though he despised the idea of having to utilize a time turning device that Floris had crafted, he could rely on Floris' magical abilities. Already all those years ago he had been aware that Floris had been good at what he was doing, and apparently he had been even better than Tom had imagined.

Tom pursed his lips. He needed to get that time turner Cassiopeia had seen in Floris' hands so many years ago. He wondered what had happened to the device after he had killed him. Looking at the ocean, Tom realized that the surf was finally getting closer to him. He pondered if he should return to Houlton Manor to ask Cassiopeia whether she knew about the time turner's whereabouts right away. Then he could also pay a visit to the library and have a quick look at the section on time. Suddenly, Tom exhaled sharply, remembering a conversation with Cepheus he had had a long time ago. He didn't recall exactly why they had talked about the books concerning the concept of time but Cepheus had mentioned that they had all been removed from the library after his mother's death. The memory instantly sparked Tom's interest. Where were the tomes and why had they been removed? He contemplated his options for another moment before he made a decision.

It was already far after midnight when Tom was standing at the entrance of the warded corridor in Houlton Manor again. He remembered the first time he had tried to round this corner and had found that it wasn't possible. Many years had passed since then and he had nearly forgotten about the corridor. He wondered if Cassiopeia had actually never tried to get past the wards. He frowned. Normally she was so curious. He didn't understand why she had never taken them down. Tom twirled his wand between his fingers, looking at the corridor he still couldn't enter. Then he grabbed his wand firmly. It took him several tries but finally he broke through. The wards had been strong but not unbreakable after all.

Tom stowed his wand in his pocket and stepped around the corner into the corridor that led to Astella Houlton's study. When he opened the door at the end of the corridor, he was greeted by a lot of dust and the heavy presence of long since volatilised dark magic. Instantly he sensed that the remaining aura of the Dark Arts in this room was much stronger than anywhere else in the manor. A smirk crossed his face. Surely he would have gotten along well with Astella Houlton.

Tom waved his hand and the dust disappeared from the various neatly piled papers, all of them filled with a fluent handwriting. The room looked as if it had been sealed the moment they had found Astella's corpse, not touching any of the notes or any of the artefacts. Tom slowly walked closer to the desk and eyed the papers in the centre with slight curiosity, for the first time ever wondering which curse it had been that had cost Astella's life. He scanned the papers for any further information. It didn't take him long to stumble upon words that immediately sparked his interest. Tom looked closer, swiftly rummaging through the top layer of papers with his long fingers. What he found confirmed his first impression. Cassiopeia's mother had tried to find a way to prolong life.

Suddenly Tom sensed that he wasn't alone anymore. He turned around and saw Cassiopeia standing in the doorway, looking at him, a slightly haunted expression in her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked through clenched teeth.

Tom gestured vaguely at the papers. "Research, I'd say."

"You shouldn't." Cassiopeia's voice was hoarse. "The room was warded for a reason."

"And what would that be?" Tom inquired mockingly.

"This place is dangerous." Cassiopeia cast a wary look around.

Tom's lips twitched into a grin. "Maybe that's why it feels like home."

Cassiopeia shot him a glare. "That's not funny. You should keep out of here."

Tom raised his eyebrows. "Now don't be silly. This place is no more dangerous than any other place."

Cassiopeia bit her lip. "My mother died here."

A smirk formed on Tom's face. "But it wasn't the room that killed her. It was her failed attempt to master the fatal curse, whichever it was that she tried."

"I'd rather you had never gone in here," Cassiopeia whispered.

Tom put the papers he had picked up back on the desk and walked over to where Cassiopeia was still standing in the doorframe.

"You are being irrational. What happened to your mother in this room could have happened anywhere. We still need to find out as much about time turners as we can and your mother seems to have been fascinated by curses that play with time. It would be stupid not to try and see if there are any fragments we could use to our own advantage." Tom's voice was calm and persuasive.

Cassiopeia looked at him. "You're never at a loss for an excuse, are you?"

"Never," Tom replied smugly. He shoved her out of the study. "By the way, do you know what happened to that time turner from your memory?"

The question caught Cassiopeia off guard and she answered before she could stop herself, "I took it."

Tom raised his eyebrows, surprise clearly visible on his features. "You've got it? Why didn't you tell me right away?" He sounded slightly exasperated. "So where is it? Go get it."

Cassiopeia's mind was racing. She knew he needed the time turner and she knew she had to give it to him eventually. But for some odd reason she didn't want to give it to him tonight. She wanted a little more time. "I think it's in our family vault at Gringotts," Cassiopeia heard herself saying. She desperately hoped Tom wouldn't immediately see through her. Fortunately, he didn't seem to doubt her words.

"Then get it as soon as you can." His voice was commanding again. He threw her another glance and then he turned on the spot, once again leaving her staring at the vacant place he had disapparated from.

 **Author's note: Thanks so much for reading, following and favouriting!**


	5. Chapter 5

Cassiopeia drew a deep breath. She didn't quite know why she had lied to him. The words had escaped her lips before she had had the time to think properly. She knew perfectly well that the time turner was nowhere near Gringotts. But somehow the thought of handing the tiny object over to Tom had been disturbing. She knew she didn't owe Floris anything, not after how he had behaved the night of his death. And still it simply didn't feel right to give this object he had spent so much time creating, this object he had treasured so much to the man who had killed him so ruthlessly.

Cassiopeia thought back to the night when Floris had told her about the time turner. Tom had retreated from her mind before he had seen that part of her memory and judging from his previous reaction it was probably better that way.

She bit her lip. Her memory of that evening so long ago was just as clear and vivid as it was painful. She had accompanied Tom to the village where they had met with another wizard whom she hoped she would never have to see ever again. When they had got back to Floris' shack she had gone inside while Tom had stayed outside, probably trying some of the curses they had heard about. On her way to the small guestroom she had passed Floris' bedroom. The door had been ajar and Floris had been rummaging in the room. After a moment he had noticed her standing at the door. He had smiled this contagious smile, so full of life and happiness, that had been so typical of him, and had asked her to come in.

Without thinking twice she had stepped inside even though she had to admit that she ought to have known better. There was no denying that already after their first encounter in the pub she had sensed that Floris was going to be trouble. He had had something about him that had unnerved her from the beginning. But she had been too naive and too blind, and she had only realized what it was when it had been too late. Cassiopeia's heart clenched at the memory.

She had been young and Floris had been too alluring, too tempting, too dangerous. He had been so easy-going where Tom was so difficult, so warm where Tom was so chilling, so close where Tom was so distant. There had been a kind of chemistry between them that had made her feel inexplicably alive and she knew he had sensed it just like she had. He had given her a kind of attention Tom would never offer in a million years. His intentions had been clear and yet she had played along.

Cassiopeia pressed her lips together. She ought to have set things straight from the beginning. She ought to have told him that no matter how tempting he was she still loved Tom too much. She ought to have been honest and not have pretended they had a chance where they actually had had none. Maybe then this disastrous evening would never have happened and Floris would never have died such a useless death. But she had loved this sparkling feeling too much, she had willingly preferred to play with the fire and in the end Floris had paid for it.

That evening in Floris' bedroom she hadn't known where things would go, how all of this was going to end. She had sat down on his bed, while he had carefully stowed the time turner in his night desk. Then he had turned around, his eyes sparkling, and had sat down next to her. They had joked and laughed together, something Tom probably didn't even know how to spell. Floris had told her everything about the time turner's creation, about how it was supposed to work and about the possible risks. She knew she had felt attracted to him and she couldn't deny that she had enjoyed this tingly feeling in her stomach. Cassiopeia swallowed. She had replayed this evening in her mind so many times after Tom had killed Floris, trying to determine what had gone wrong. It still made her feel sick that she might have been able to prevent Floris' death if she had only been honest to him that night.

After Tom had ended Floris' life so brutally and mercilessly, she had retrieved the time turner from Floris' room. When she had taken it she had silently vowed to guard it and keep it safe, something she hadn't been able to do for its owner. She bit her lip. No matter how much she disliked the thought she would have to break her promise. She would have to give the time turner to the very one man Floris doubtlessly would never have wanted to lay hands on it. She would have to let him down yet again.

She sighed. Tom surely wouldn't take long to find out the truth, after all, he never did.

Tom returned to Houlton Manor late at night, intending to have a closer look at the notes in Astella Houlton's study. However, when he rounded the corner that led to the room he halted abruptly. The study was lighted. Cassiopeia was sitting in front of her mother's desk. She had leaned back on the chair, her back turned towards the door, but in the window Tom could see her reflection. She was looking at the desk in front of her, her eyes uncharacteristically empty and expressionless. Tom silently walked to the doorway and leaned against the doorframe. He was just wondering if she had even noticed he was standing there when Cassiopeia said tonelessly, "She died trying to live forever. Isn't that ironic? Seems like I'm surrounded by people who are obsessed with the idea of immortality."

Tom looked at her reflection and shrugged. "Who wouldn't want to avoid dying?"

Cassiopeia scoffed and stated bitterly, "Maybe she should have concentrated harder on relishing the time she had been given rather than trying to steal years she wasn't supposed to have. She had two children after all. Wasn't that enough?"

Tom's lips twitched contemptuously. "At least your mother died trying to change her fate, not like my mother, pathetically succumbing to her own body's weaknesses."

The sudden coldness of Tom's voice made Cassiopeia shiver. She turned around and cast him a glance. The endless disgust and contempt he was still harbouring for his mother's decease were plainly visible in his eyes.

Cassiopeia slowly got up and pursed her lips. "Well, I suppose my mother would have liked you. So just go ahead, search for whatever it is you are looking for. I don't care if I see any of these papers ever again." She threw a last disdainful glance at the piles of notes before she left the study.

When Cassiopeia was gone, Tom walked closer to the desk. He sat down and took the neatly piled papers from the table. It didn't take long before he was completely immersed in the research notes of Astella Houlton.

 **Author's note:**

 **Thanks again for reading. I know this is certainly not the best chapter I've ever written. But I promise it'll get better again ;-)**

 **Special thanks for the first review to the story :-) You really made my day!**


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning Tom apparated to Malfoy Manor. He had spent most of the night reading Astella's papers. It had been truly interesting. The woman surely had been a remarkable witch. Before he had left her study he had taken a few sheets of parchment with him. When he arrived at Malfoy Manor he ordered the house elf to get Malfoy immediately. The house elf disappeared with a loud crack, and Tom went into Malfoy's study. He had just taken a seat when Malfoy entered the room, a look of surprise on his face.

"Good morning, my lord. The house elf told me you wanted to talk to me?"

"I need you to get me someone who won't be a loss to this world," Tom stated bluntly.

Malfoy nodded. "Of course, my lord. Any specifications?"

Tom curtly shook his head.

Malfoy nodded again. After a moment he said, "I suppose they won't survive your meeting?"

Tom's mouth twisted into a wicked smirk. "A very clever assumption, Malfoy."

Malfoy's pale cheeks blushed slightly. "I will have someone by midnight at the latest, my lord."

Tom got up. "Good. I'll be back then." He walked to the door and left Malfoy staring after him.

When Tom entered the hall outside Malfoy's study his gaze fell on a young witch who was standing at the opposite side of the hall, obviously waiting. The moment she saw him, she strode over to him and lowered her eyes. "My lord."

Tom looked at her. "What is it, Bellatrix?"

She did not meet his gaze. "Please, may I have a word in private with you, my lord?"

Tom slightly narrowed his eyes. He had known Bellatrix since she was little. By now she had turned into a young woman, her long black hair strangely wild and her heavily lidded eyes painted dark. Tom eyed her for another moment. Then he opened the door to the living room and motioned her to follow him. He closed the door behind them with a flick of his wrist and walked to the middle of the room, Bellatrix close on his heels.

"So what do you want to talk to me about?" he asked, abruptly turning around.

Bellatrix raised her head and looked at him. "I have come of age a while ago and I want to join your ranks, my lord. I wish to become one of those you honour with your mark." She brushed her hand lightly against her left forearm. "I will do anything for you, my lord."

Tom looked back at her. After a moment he said, "These are grand words. Are you really aware what they mean?"

Bellatrix nodded eagerly.

Tom raised his eyebrow just the slightest bit. "You claim to do anything for me. So, are you ready to endure pain for me?" His voice was chilling.

Bellatrix nodded again and lowered her eyes. "Anything, my lord."

With a quick movement Tom had his wand in his hand. "Well, then look at me," he commanded and Bellatrix obeyed. Tom looked into her eyes. They were gleaming with a determination he had seen seldom before. Tom let his fingers glide over the wood of his wand. Then he grabbed it a little tighter and a sneer spread across his face. "So let's see if you'll change your mind." Without further warning he flicked his wand at Bellatrix and hissed "Crucio."

Bellatrix fell to her knees and then to the floor. The room was filled with her screams but Tom did not bother to mute her. He watched her winding on the floor, clearly tormented by endless pain, his eyes impassive and emotionless. Bellatrix' face was contorted with the agony she was experiencing but Tom did not waver. He kept his wand pointed firmly at her, momentarily relishing the comforting warmth of his magic that was flowing through his veins and channelling into the curse, before he finally lowered the wand.

Bellatrix scrambled to her knees again. Tom casually twirled his wand. "Look at me," he ordered once again, and Bellatrix raised her head. His gaze bore into her eyes. "Are you still ready to do whatever it takes to serve me?" he asked intently.

Bellatrix nodded. "I'd do anything for you, my lord, I told you."

Tom nodded slowly. "Very well then. You can prove if you are useful and worthy of the Death Eaters' mark tonight. Meet me at the cells in the basement at midnight. Don't be late."

Bellatrix smiled. "Thank you, my lord.

x-x-x-x

The church clock had just chimed eleven when Tom returned to Malfoy Manor. He found Malfoy in his study, casually lounging in the comfortable armchair next to the fireside, his feet propped up on the coffee table, a glass of firewhiskey in one hand, his smoke in the other. When he heard the door open he turned his head. Seeing Tom enter the room, he immediately straightened up in his seat, putting the firewhiskey aside.

"Everything is prepared for you, my lord. I got someone from the asylums. They say she barely passed the programme."

Tom nodded curtly. "Bellatrix Black is going to attend. Send her downstairs as soon as she arrives," he ordered.

Malfoy looked mildly surprised. "Bella? Isn't she a little too young?" he asked before he could stop himself.

Tom shot him a cold glare. "Too young for what?" he spat.

Realizing what he had said, Malfoy hurried to excuse himself. "I'm sorry, my lord, I didn't mean to question your decisions. I just thought she were..." His voice trailed away.

"I should think, just as so many times before, that's none of your business," Tom snarled, his voice icy.

Malfoy's pale cheeks were flushed, and he lowered his eyes. "Of course, my lord."

Tom stared at Malfoy for another moment before he said, "We were barely older than she is now when we got started. You didn't seem concerned about our age back then." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Malfoy kept his gaze on his glass of firewhiskey on the small table in front of him. "I know. But she's..."

"A woman?" Tom cut him short. "Really, I don't understand why so many of you keep thinking women might be less skilled at fighting than men." His lip curled. "Because that's nonsense."

Malfoy's cheeks were burning, and he felt stupid. "I will remember, my lord."

Tom quirked an eyebrow, a condescending glint in his eyes. "You better do. I don't want to find you sprawled on the ground one day just because you underestimated a witch's abilities."

Malfoy silently nodded.

Tom turned to leave. In the doorway he stopped again. "I probably don't have to remind you that I don't want to be disturbed."

"No, my lord, of course I will make sure of that." Malfoy replied subserviently.

x-x-x-x

Bellatrix descended the stairs to the basement of Malfoy Manor. She squinted into the darkness, trying to make out the surroundings. On her way along the corridor she passed several heavy doors.

"Bellatrix." Tom's voice tore the silence.

Bellatrix whirled around. "My lord," she bowed to him.

Tom stepped forward, leaving the shadow he had been standing in.

"Well, then let's have a look at your skills." He cast her a glance and motioned towards the nearest door. With a flick of his wrist the heavy door swung open, revealing the dark cell that lay behind it.

Bellatrix slowly moved forward. In the doorway she halted. Inside she could see someone crouching in the corner. It was a girl about her age. Her light brown hair was lank and greasy, shielding her face from view.

Tom's voice cut through the silence again. "There are no restrictions, except that you don't kill her. I need her alive."

Bellatrix nodded obediently and drew her wand. Tom watched her taking a few steps forward and then brandishing her wand at the girl with a fluid movement. He followed her into the cell and closed the door behind him with another flick of his wrist. Then he leaned against the wall and observed Bellatrix. There was no denying that she was truly talented and absolutely ruthless. A wicked smile crossed Tom's face. She would doubtlessly be a valuable addition to his ranks. He kept watching her for a while before he finally pushed away from the wall, his wand in his hand.

"Obviously your father trained you well," he stated approvingly.

Bellatrix turned around, a satisfied smile on her face and a slightly insane glint in her eyes. "Thank you, my lord."

"You can leave now," Tom commanded, waving his wand at the door. "Come to Malfoy's living room Saturday at noon."

Bellatrix nodded eagerly. "As you wish, my lord." She bowed again before she turned around and disappeared through the door.

Tom slammed the door shut behind her. Then he twirled his wand in his fingers and looked at the young witch who was lying on the floor, a pained expression on her face and unlimited fear visible in her eyes. A sneer formed on Tom's face as he watched her for another moment, his eyes cold and empty. Then he flicked his wand at her, lifting her body into an upright position. The young woman instantly backed away from him.

"Stand still," he commanded curtly and she obeyed. Tom concentrated on the curse he intended to try, wondering what would happen. The incantation was complicated and the outcome uncertain. Finally Tom brandished his wand once again and a deep blue light illuminated the cell before it hit its victim. The girl gasped and fell back to the ground. Tom quirked an eyebrow and stepped closer, turning her over with another wave of his wand. The girl's eyes were lifeless and her face didn't resemble that of a young woman anymore. In fact she looked as if she were far in her nineties. Tom frowned. This definitely wasn't what he had expected. The curse doubtlessly didn't work the way it was supposed to. He exhaled sharply. There would be a lot of work ahead of him. But at least now he knew how Astella Houlton had got herself killed. With a last glance at the corpse Tom left the cell and went back to Malfoy's study. He knocked but as usual didn't wait for an answer before opening the door.

Malfoy looked up from his desk. "My lord?" He threw Tom a questioning glance.

"You have to get me some more," Tom stated briskly.

For a second Malfoy looked confused. Then he understood and instantly nodded. "Of course, my lord, I will."

 **Author's note: Thanks so much for reading, following and favouriting! I'd love to read your thoughts on the story, so maybe you even leave a little review? :-)**


	7. Chapter 7

The weeks went by and Cassiopeia rarely saw Tom at all. When he came to Houlton Manor it was always late at night and he just went to sit in her mother's study for hours. Cassiopeia began to wonder what he was working at. She had only looked at the top layer of papers the night when she had ventured into this room she had originally intended to never set foot in again. Yet, as so many times before, her curiosity had got the better of her, and knowing that Tom was right after all, that it hadn't been the room that had killed her mother, she had decided to have a look at her mother's sanctuary. She had been curious to see what her mother had spent her time experimenting with and so she had sat at her desk and read through the papers. All of the notes had been about curses and rituals that aimed at the prolongation of life, making the caster stop aging and staying young forever. As far as Cassiopeia could tell there had been nothing about time travel among these notes. Clearly, it hadn't been her mother's intention to travel through time. That left her wondering what Tom had found in those yellowed parchments that let him return time and time again, spending hours on hours studying her mother's notes. After all he didn't need to prolong his life with some unreliable and probably insecure curse anymore. He already had his Horcruxes that obviously saved him from aging the normal way, judging from his still so youthful appearance.

Cassiopeia thought about Floris' time turner again. Honestly she had been quite surprised that Tom had not asked for it ever since that evening when he had ordered her to retrieve it from Gringotts as soon as possible. She had expected him to keep reminding her with his so very own charming demeanour until she would finally leave the device in his possession. Yet Tom had not even bothered to say hello whenever he came to her mother's study. She only knew he was there because she had put an alerting enchantment on the room. Cassiopeia sighed. If she had hoped that things would be different after Dumbledore's death, that Tom's behaviour would somehow change after what had happened that day at Hogwarts, she had been wrong. She pursed her lips. Tom might care for her somewhere in the endless darkness of his self but aside from that he remained just as detached and selfish as ever.

Cassiopeia had just gone to bed when she suddenly felt a tingle in her arm, accompanied by the familiar burning sensation. Sleepily she shoved her sleeve away. With a frown she noticed that the mark had been activated. Cassiopeia glanced at it for another moment before she slowly got up again. From the way the mark was burning she could tell that Tom had used one of his Death Eaters to signal the others. The frown on her face intensified. She wondered what made him gather his knights this late at night. He hadn't summoned them at these hours in quite a while after all.

Before the Ministry had fallen under Tom's control, this had used to happen more frequently. With the kind of war that had been raging back then it had been the Death Eaters' way of alerting one another that they needed support in a battle. Back then Tom had always been more than clear on the fact that he didn't want her to comply with the mark's summoning.

Cassiopeia knew that he probably didn't want to see her reacting to the mark's burning this time either but she was desperately curious to know what had happened and decided to find out. She quickly dressed the way the Death Eaters usually dressed, with black robes and a large hood to cover her face. Throwing a glance into the mirror, she noted with some satisfaction that she actually resembled the average Death Eater. She grabbed her wand and apparated to Tom.

Cassiopeia wasn't the first to arrive. She went to wait among the others, carefully trying to blend in, making sure the hood was shielding her face from view. With a quick look around she scanned her surroundings. They were standing outside a large building that seemed to be one of the asylums the government had established to educate Muggle-born witches and wizards.

After Tom had abandoned his initial plan of eliminating all Muggle-born wizardry he had eventually come to realize that he needed to control the magic of Muggle-borns if he didn't want them to turn into a possible danger to his reign. Consequently he had made the Ministry build asylums where Muggle-born children were taken as soon as they showed any signs of magic.

The asylums were mainly run by half-blood wizards and some pure-bloods that didn't cringe at the mere thought of being surrounded by Muggle-borns. The Muggle-borns were taught to control their magic and trained in basic magical skills, conveying just enough magical knowledge to them so that they wouldn't fight against the oppression, and if they would they wouldn't be too hard to defeat.

Occasionally there would be Muggle-borns who were exceptionally talented. If Tom was notified of such an exception by the staff of an asylum he would determine if they were a potential risk to his cause and if not they were given the chance to continue their magical education at the School for Muggle-born Witchcraft and Wizardry. All in all Tom's concept concerning the limitation of Muggle-born magic seemed to be working rather well.

Yet every now and then there would happen to be someone rebelling at one of the asylums. Then Tom would order his knights to take care of them. Even though Cassiopeia had never asked it didn't take much imagination to know what happened to those. After all, none of the Death Eaters gave so much as a damn about yet another life they took in their strive for pureblood domination.

Meanwhile almost all of the branded Death Eaters had shown up. Cassiopeia watched Tom's gaze sweep over the small crowd and she quickly lowered her head again, disguising her face, hoping he wouldn't bother to count.

"My knights, I've been informed that there are conspiratorial meetings being held at this asylum, organized by some of the staff. We don't know who is taking part and who isn't but since the majority of the inhabitants is at least sympathising with the rebels, we won't bother any further." Tom paused and glanced at his followers, his eyes calm and empty, before he hissed, "Just take everyone at this asylum down. Kill them, no matter who they are."

The Death Eaters nodded unfazed and silently drew their wands. Then the group moved swiftly towards the building. Cassiopeia bit her lip and cursed under her breath. Coming here had been a stupid idea. What on earth had she been thinking? It hadn't been that hard to guess that Tom was up to something bad yet again, after all. Clearly, she should have stayed out of this. Even more clearly, Tom would be beyond furious if he found out she hadn't. So if she didn't want to attract his attention now, she had no choice than to continue pretending she were just another one of his Death Eaters and obey his orders.

Together with the others she walked towards the entrance. With slight surprise she realized that Tom was following them. Mulciber who was walking next to her seemed to be equally surprised. She saw him stealing a glance at Tom and heard him whisper deferentially, "Please excuse my asking, my lord, but are you going to join us?" As if scared by his own courage, he quickly added another "my lord".

In the shadows of her hood Cassiopeia couldn't suppress a smirk. Tom had really frightened them well into complete submission.

Tom snickered lowly. "There hasn't been any opportunity of fighting in combat since we conquered Hogwarts. I wouldn't want to run out of practice, would I?"

Carefully looking sideways, Cassiopeia cast a glance at the wand in his hand. It was Dumbledore's, the Unbeatable Wand. She realized that she hadn't seen Tom's own wand ever since he had acquired the Elder Wand.

Next to her she saw Mulciber tighten his grip around his wand. They had reached the building, the first of their group already being inside. With their routine of countless nightly assaults on unsuspecting victims Tom's Death Eaters blew the inhabitants of the asylum into a nightmare of curses and fire. As they worked their way through the building the number of inhabitants who put up a fight slowly increased, having been alerted to the attack by the noise and chaos from storming the building. Cassiopeia had opted to stay near Mulciber instead of following Tom, being too preoccupied that he might realize who she was. She surely didn't want to face a fit of his anger tonight.

Mulciber had quickly advanced along the ground floor, taking down everyone he saw before they even had a chance to react. Cassiopeia didn't regret that thus, so far, it hadn't been up to her to enact Tom's orders. After Mulciber had cleared the last room along the corridor he quickly went up the stairs, Cassiopeia close on his heels. Already upon rounding the stairs she saw that on the upper floor Rosier was engaged in fierce combat, battling at least five opponents at once. Mulciber immediately joined the fight. Cassiopeia drew a deep breath and grabbed her wand tighter, too. Rosier and Mulciber were doubtlessly better than their opponents but their skill was put somewhat into perspective by the fact that they were severely outnumbered.

Cassiopeia hid behind a shelf in the corridor and aimed her wand at a man who was just about to attack Rosier from behind. Before the guy could harm Rosier, Cassiopeia's curse hit the man in the chest and he fell to the ground. Then she quickly brandished her wand at a young witch who had noticed her and had started attacking her instead of Rosier. The witch tried to deflect Cassiopeia's curse but didn't manage to do so. In the attempt to avoid being hit, the girl threw herself on the floor, the curse soaring over her head. Before the witch could send yet another curse, Mulciber hit her with the Killing Curse. At that moment another wizard attacked Mulciber and Cassiopeia quickly shielded the latter. Rosier had meanwhile succeeded in killing two more of his opponents and moved a little further down the corridor. Mulciber brandished his wand again at the wizard who had tried to attack him and the man fell to the floor. Following Rosier along the hallway, Mulciber rounded the corner.

Cassiopeia was about to do the same when she suddenly realized that the wizard Mulciber had hit wasn't dead yet. With a lot of effort he had raised his hand, pointing his wand at her. Without thinking, Cassiopeia flicked her wand at the man and disarmed him. Intending to stun him, she brandished her wand once again but before the curse could even leave her wand, the hallway was once again illuminated by blinding green light and the man's hand fell lifelessly back to the ground.

Cassiopeia whirled around. Tom was standing a few feet away, the wand in his hand still pointed at the wizard on the floor, his eyes blazing with suppressed emotion.

 **Author's note: Thanks so much for reading, following and favouriting :-) Your feedback really makes my day!**


	8. Chapter 8

"I said _kill them_ ," Tom hissed, his voice deadly.

Cassiopeia looked back at him, her face still shielded by her hood. She knew that any spoken reply would give her away immediately so she pressed her lips together and only nodded wordlessly. Obviously Tom had been expecting something more than that, probably at least a submissively muttered "my lord", because his eyes narrowed dangerously and he stepped closer. Unconsciously Cassiopeia held her breath, half expecting Tom to just raise his wand again and crucio her without further ado for disobeying his orders.

But he didn't. Instead he hissed, "Put that hood down and show me your face."

Unsure about how to react, Cassiopeia didn't move.

"I said _show me your face_ ," Tom repeated menacingly. The next instant he was standing right in front of her, rudely shoving her hood back with his hand until her face wasn't hidden by the shadows anymore.

Cassiopeia kept her lips pressed together and stared into Tom's eyes that were still blazing with fury. Yet no matter how much the look in his eyes frightened her, she stubbornly refused to avert her gaze.

"I knew it was you," he hissed. "None of the others would have refrained from killing anyone who was trying to attack them." There was a fraction of deathly silence before Tom snarled, "What are you doing here?"

Cassiopeia resisted the urge to shudder at the amount of suppressed rage that was ringing in his voice. "You called me," she replied, trying to sound confident.

Tom's eyes narrowed. "You know very well that you weren't supposed to come here," he spat. "You know very well it wasn't _me_ calling _you_." Still glowering at her, he finally hissed, "Go home," and when Cassiopeia continued to stare back at him, he added slightly exasperatedly, "Now."

"You can't just send me home like some misbehaving child," Cassiopeia said, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"So what do you want to do here? Fight?" Tom asked mockingly. "Kill people for a cause that doesn't really matter to you?"

"Who says that the cause doesn't matter to me?"

"Oh, come on, I'm not dumb. I'm perfectly aware that you don't believe in pureblood supremacy. You didn't fail to make yourself clear on that, the past decades," Tom shot back, his eyebrow raised.

"You don't do this because of any belief in pureblood supremacy either," Cassiopeia whispered, her gaze locked with his. "You do it to ensure your power, you do it for yourself. And I'm sure you've come to realize that much as well during the past decades, you do matter to me."

"So you want to stay and fight?" Without breaking their eye contact Tom waved his wand at a boy who had just peered around the corner. Tom's curse hit before the other even had a chance to react and Cassiopeia and Tom heard a low thud when the dead body made contact with the floor. "You're ready for this? For doing it yourself?" Tom's gaze bore into Cassiopeia's eyes and she stubbornly held her ground, refusing to look away, even though she was plainly aware of the answer.

"Why don't you want me to be here? I bet I am just as capable as the others," Cassiopeia retorted and with a little satisfaction she realized that she sounded a lot more confident than she felt.

Tom clenched his teeth. Why did she always have to argue? Why did she always have to question his orders? Of course he knew she was just as capable. That wasn't the reason why he wanted her to stay away. The point was that she was still disturbingly mortal, disturbingly vulnerable. No matter how much he hated to admit it, he didn't even want to imagine her being hit by a stray fatal curse.

"It's not safe here," he finally spat through his clenched teeth.

Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow, clearly taken aback. "You don't worry about me, do you?" Her voice sounded mildly incredulous.

Tom glared back at her, his voice icy. "So what if I do?"

The ghost of a smile crossed Cassiopeia's face. Following on a sudden impulse she leaned forward and, standing on her toes, lightly brushed her lips against Tom's. She sensed his body instantly reacting to her touch and felt his lips twitch into an involuntary smirk, the iciness of his features dissolving at last. Pulling away from him, Cassiopeia whispered, "That would be one of the best things you ever did."

Tom looked back at her and suddenly felt himself longing intensely for her touch. However, knowing this was neither the right time nor the right place, he took a step back. "Go home now. I'll be back," he muttered and vanished in a cloud of black smoke-like vapour, leaving Cassiopeia standing alone in the hallway.

Cassiopeia was just about to apparate back to Houlton Manor when she heard a loud noise from the other end of the hallway. She turned around just in time to see Avery stumbling backwards from what seemed to be an office, a heavily pained expression on his face. Even from the distance Cassiopeia immediately saw the bad cut that had split his right arm open, blood streaming rapidly from the wound. Without thinking Cassiopeia darted along the aisle. Whoever was fighting against Avery continued his assault relentlessly, and Avery was barely dodging the attacks. When Cassiopeia was next to him she could see his opponent hunching over a desk inside the office, clearly injured as well, but the determined gleam of survival burning in his eyes. He was aiming his wand at Avery and casting yet another curse which Avery managed to shield himself from, despite his hand trembling heavily from the rapid blood loss. The moment she reached Avery, Cassiopeia slashed her wand at the wizard in the office. Her spell hit the man just before he could hurl another curse at Avery. Incapacitated, he fell down on the desk.

Avery's gaze shot at Cassiopeia's face and a strange look of surprise and confusion crossed his eyes. Realizing her hood was still shoved back where Tom had left it, Cassiopeia instinctively reached up with her hand and pulled it back into her face while pointing her wand at Avery's arm, tentatively closing the cut in order to make the wound stop bleeding.

Avery's voice was husky when he breathed, "That was just in time. Never been so glad to see you, Houlton."

Throwing another glance at the wizard in the office, he realized that the man's chest was still rising and falling feebly. "He's still alive," Avery muttered matter-of-factly and glanced at Cassiopeia whose gaze was fixed on the unconscious body a few feet away from them, the expression in her eyes empty. The ghost of a smile flickered across Avery's features.

"I'll do it," he whispered. With some effort he raised his injured wand arm again and, pointing his wand at the man, muttered, "Avada Kedavra." The green light left his wand and hit the man, abruptly ending the faint motion of his chest.

Tearing her gaze away from the now dead body in front of them, Cassiopeia looked back at Avery. "You lost lots of blood. We've got to get you away from here," she said tensely. "Your arm needs to be taken care of properly."

A look of fear shot through Avery's eyes. "I can't leave before the Dark Lord allows me to."

Cassiopeia's eyes narrowed. "He is occupied elsewhere and I'm quite sure he doesn't want us to disturb him just because of your injury. Still I can't imagine he would be pleased to find out you bled to death while you were waiting for him to dismiss you."

Avery looked hesitant, a pained expression marring his features. His arm was hurting badly and the amount of blood he had lost made him feel dizzy. Leaving the site and getting his injuries taken care of sounded unbelievably inviting. But the idea of leaving without the Dark Lord's approval and the obligatory punishment that would surely follow sent a shiver down his spine, causing him to stay rooted to the spot. "I'll stay here," he replied hoarsely. "You closed the cut. I'm not losing blood anymore. I can wait and endure the pain until he tells us to leave."

Cassiopeia threw him another glance. Finally she nodded. "Your decision. But I have to leave. The Dark Lord was quite clear on that he didn't like seeing me here tonight..." Her voice trailed away.

Avery shot her a sympathetic glance. "I am glad you were here tonight, though."

A smile crossed Cassiopeia's face before she quickly turned on the spot and left Avery alone in the corridor.

 **Author's note: Just as always...thanks a lot for reading! Special thanks to those who favourited and followed!**


	9. Chapter 9

After Cassiopeia had returned to Houlton Manor she went to the living room and lit the fire. Although it was deep in the middle of the night she couldn't even think of going to sleep. She sat on the sofa and covered herself with a woollen blanket, reaching for a book and waiting for Tom to return.

She had been reading for over an hour when finally the soft sound of Tom apparating to the mansion made her look up. She watched as the door swung open and Tom walked into the living room. The flickering fire illuminated the room in a warm tone of gold and red. Tom's dark hair shone beautifully in the light of the flames. He was looking at her, his eyes dark and bottomless, a carefully disguised sparkle gleaming in them that made every inch of her body burn. Cassiopeia felt a wave of passion flood her. There was so much wrong with him, with what he did, with how he did it and why he did it. But at the same time he still felt so indescribably right to her, inevitably drawing her towards him, into the poisonous depths of his magic, and once again she wanted nothing more than to drown in his darkness, like so many times before.

Tom wordlessly closed the distance between them, his gaze locked with hers, greed and desire now evident in his eyes. Before Cassiopeia could even get up he was standing in front of her and pushed her back down on the cushions. The next moment he was kneeling above her, making her blood drum in her ears and taking her breath away with his lips. She felt his body move hard against hers and she desperately yearned for him to get closer. Running her hand through his hair she determinedly pulled him towards her. She felt his lips turn into a smirk without ever leaving hers but she didn't care, letting herself get swept away by the wave of passionate fire that was burning between them. Tom sensed that she craved for him and he was more than willing to comply, finally giving in to this longing desire that had been running through his veins ever since he had found her standing in that hallway at the asylum.

x-x-x-x

When their breathing finally slowed down, Tom leaned his head against the back of the sofa.

"I never want to lose you," he mumbled into the cushions, his voice low and husky. "I don't want you to ever leave me."

Cassiopeia's lips twitched into a small smile. "You know that I won't leave you if I can help it." She ran her fingers over his back. It was still sweaty and heated, making him seem so warm and alive. She pulled him close again. "You are everything I always wanted," she whispered into his skin.

Tom shifted his weight and lightly rested his forehead against hers. "I want it to stay like this forever. I want us to stay the way we are forever. If there was a way, would you take it?" He felt Cassiopeia tense and brushed his lips against hers. "I'm not talking about Horcruxes. I'm talking about other means, other ways..." His voice trailed away and he pushed his body up with his arms, looking into Cassiopeia's eyes. "Would you take them?"

Cassiopeia looked back at him. He was watching her intently, searching for any sign of her thoughts. Cassiopeia took in the unusual warmth that was shining in his eyes. She sighed. "That sounds so intriguing, Tom. But there is no eternal life, there is no eternal youth in this world. It doesn't matter that I would love to be with you forever because that doesn't change anything."

"But if there was..."

Cassiopeia cut him short. "We have been looking for ways to immortality for ages. Your Horcruxes were all we found, and we both know what I think about them. Tom, please don't make me long for an eternity together with you that I'm not about to have. Let us live here and now, make me feel alive here and now, because that's what life's about." She ran her hand up his arm that was strained from holding up his weight. When her fingers reached his head she ruffled his hair and he let her pull him close again, his lips caressing hers, taking in her scent and giving in to his body's desire once again.

x-x-x-x

It was already morning when Tom left. He had told Cassiopeia that he had business to attend to at Malfoy's, and Cassiopeia had chosen not to ask any further. She was positive that one way or the other, whatever his business was, it would surely come to haunt her early enough. Sooner or later his businesses always did, after all.

Cassiopeia went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. While she was frying pancakes she thought about what Tom had said last night. About them staying together. About forever.

Up to now she had always deliberately chosen not to dwell too much on how and where her life was going to proceed. After all, there was no denying that loving Tom had always made planning any possible future more than difficult. Loving him had forced her to sort out her priorities very early.

She remembered that as a child she had been dreaming of becoming an Auror. However, falling in love with one of the darkest wizards of all time had let this idea seem...ridiculous, to say the least. With the plan of becoming an Auror out of the question she had chosen to work as a teacher for home schooled children and for a few years she had actually been able to teach the children of a number of wizarding families. But then Tom's new Ministry government had prohibited home schooling, making attending Hogwarts obligatory for all pure-blood and half-blood children. Thus, Tom had once again deprived her of her job. But when she had complained to him he had merely shrugged and stated that she didn't have to work at all, seeing that she had inherited enough money to afford her living. Even though she had disagreed there had been no point in arguing with him, because, in the end, it wouldn't have changed anything anyways. So she had settled for spending her free time reading and studying, hoping that maybe one day it would at least pay off. All in all, she had always just lived from day to day and from week to week, never knowing where Tom's war would take them the next moment, whether his hatred and fury would finally destroy them or what else might happen before the end of the day.

Forever seemed to be a misplaced word in a world made of war, contempt and hatred, in a world as dangerous and fragile as Tom's. And yet there were these moments of passion, like last night, that made him seem so different, that really made her want to stay with him forever, that made her want to forget all about contempt, hatred, darkness and war. These moments when she just wanted to be in his arms, his body so close to hers, his breath on her skin, his magic all around them and his passion carrying her away. These were the times when she knew Tom was really caring for her, when he was completely unguarded and honest, when he was only Tom, not the possibly most dangerous dark wizard of all time.

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

More than a week had passed and Tom had not shown up once. Cassiopeia hated this habit of his to just disappear for days on end without any notice. She was well aware that, of course, he didn't owe her any explanation regarding his whereabouts but taking into account the many years she had been closer to him than anyone else it would nevertheless have been somehow common decency to at least leave a little message. But then again, Tom had never been common, not in this way, nor in any other.

The morning had once again been rather uneventful. There was still no news from Tom. Cassiopeia pursed her lips. He tended to walk in and out of her life with a kind of naturalness that was just so Tom but that she still disliked.

Finally, after lunch she made up her mind and apparated to Malfoy Manor. She strode up to the entrance and knocked on the door. One of the house elves opened the door and shot her a quick gaze.

"Miss Houlton." The little elf bowed. "How can Tibby help miss?"

"Tibby." Cassiopeia smiled. "I was wondering if you've recently seen..." She paused. Addressing Tom in front of others remained just as strange as it had always been. When she saw Tibby looking at her expectantly, she swallowed and continued somewhat reluctantly, "...the Dark Lord?"

Tibby flinched at the mention of Tom and nodded. "Please come in, miss. Miss can wait in the living room."

Cassiopeia stepped inside and followed Tibby to the Malfoy's living room where Tom used to hold his Death Eater meetings. When she entered the living room, she saw that it wasn't empty and slightly raised an eyebrow.

"Bellatrix," she greeted unenthusiastically.

The young witch whirled around and shot her an equally unenthusiastic look. "Cassiopeia," she acknowledged.

"Are you waiting for the Dark Lord?"

An odd gleam shot through Bellatrix' eyes and she shook her head. "No, actually I'm about to leave. I just practised my wandwork a little. The Dark Lord generously offered to help me improve my skills and he showed me how to cast the Cruciatus Curse so much more efficiently. It was so fascinating, feeling his magic, experiencing his power…" The gleam in her eyes intensified. "Did you ever watch him cast the Cruciatus Curse? It's just so...exceptional." Her voice was full of excited emotion.

"Is it?" Cassiopeia replied drily. Even without having seen Tom casting it lately, she was absolutely convinced that his Cruciatus Curse was doubtlessly exceptional in so many ways, certainly exceptionally painful, exceptionally merciless and exceptionally coldblooded.

"What does it feel like?" Bellatrix' voice interrupted her train of thoughts and Cassiopeia threw her a confused glance. "What are you talking about?"

"Bearing the Dark Lord's mark, what does it feel like? I know you're one of the few who have been granted the honour of bearing it." She ran her fingers over her arm. "What does it feel like, being connected to him like that?"

Cassiopeia looked at Bellatrix and pondered her question. What did it feel like? Honestly to her the mark didn't exactly feel like an honour anymore. This connection that had once been so unique had lost a lot of its appeal with every single time that Tom had carved the mark into another one's arm, thus rendering it more and more common. To Bellatrix it might still seem special and rare but in Cassiopeia's eyes it had been used far too often. However, no one knew about the mark's origin, and Cassiopeia had no intention of changing that, well aware that Tom would never want the others to know. Finally, she answered evasively, "It's always exceptional to experience the mark's powers." That wasn't even a lie. It was indeed still beyond words to catch a glimpse of the true extent of unscrupulous domination, control and oppression that Tom had equipped the mark with.

"I imagine it has to be indescribable. Feeling him so close, always being connected to him, being with him, with his magic...When he touched me tonight I could feel this endless power..." Bellatrix voice trailed away, a dreamy expression in her eyes.

Cassiopeia glanced at Bellatrix, and suddenly the young witch reminded her very much of herself and the way she had always felt about Tom. For quite some time now she had been suspecting that Bellatrix had a soft spot for Tom, and obviously she had been right. Cassiopeia eyed the other's youthful appearance with a blank expression, her features betraying none of the emotions that were swirling inside her chest, to her utter dismay jealousy being the predominant one. She knew it was irrational, but then again, love always was.

Bellatrix threw another look at Cassiopeia, her gaze still sporting the slightly insane gleam of the memory of her magic being combined with her beloved master's before she finally disapparated. Cassiopeia watched her leave, a strange feeling she couldn't quite place in the pit of her stomach.

Suddenly she heard a soft chuckle coming from behind and turned around to see Tom leaning against the doorframe.

Cassiopeia cocked her head. "How long have you been standing there?"

Tom smirked. "A while."

Remembering Bellatrix' words, Cassiopeia stated sarcastically, "I wasn't aware you've taken to educating students lately."

Tom's smirk grew wider. "Really? Is that jealousy there in your voice?" There was obvious amusement ringing in his tone.

"So what if it is?" Cassiopeia retorted and pursed her lips. "After all, you never coached me to improve my Unforgivables, even sharing parts of your power with me, did you?"

Tom deliberately arranged his features into a look of innocence. "I was under the impression that you didn't want to practice the Unforgivables. In fact I vividly remember you telling me I were atrocious enough for both of us and you'd prefer to stick with the theory." He paused. "Actually I thought you'd be thankful that I always respected your wish. That's the only reason why I never forced you to make some use of this knowledge I perfectly know you to have." He paused again, the smirk now creeping back on his face. "But if you've changed your mind and want to practice now, I'm here and I'm more than ready to coach you this very moment." Provocatively, he held his hand out for her.

Cassiopeia eyed his outstreched hand but didn't take it, and Tom lowered his hand again, his smirk back in place. "Well, seems I know you better than you expect. So where's the point in being jealous if you don't even want what the other gets?"

Cassiopeia returned his gaze and the strange feeling in her stomach slowly subsided. Deep inside she knew she was being foolish to think Tom might have been coaching Bellatrix because she was young and her own kind of beautiful with her long wild black locks. Tom wasn't that way, he had never been. And still there were times when a feeling of doubt crept into her. After all, if he was able to care for her, why shouldn't he be able to care for another?

Tom glanced back at her, somehow guessing her thoughts once again. He wordlessly quirked an eyebrow. Cassiopeia looked back into his eyes, and the sinister yet so familiar gleam in them told her all she needed to know. A smile crossed her face. "You're right, there's none." She walked closer to where he was standing. "And you're right, I don't want to practice and I'm glad you never forced me to." After a moment she added, "Seems I said some sensible things back then. And obviously you paid more attention than I thought you had."

Tom's lip twitched and he slowly pushed away from the doorframe he had been leaning against. The sinister gleam in his eyes was still surfacing but now it was mixed with a sparkle of something Cassiopeia couldn't quite place.

"I know, I'm always right." He shrugged. With a quick movement he grabbed Cassiopeia's wrist and pulled her towards him. "Your magic and mine, they are special in a way no other will ever come close to. They run wild and free together in a way no other will ever achieve. My power is much stronger with your magic than with any other. I know you've sensed this, just as I have."

Tom's magic had been radiating from him, just as powerful and strong as always. Now he deliberately made it reach out and it immediately found Cassiopeia's magic, forcefully entwining with it, making her feel indescribably alive and content.

Tom's lips turned into one of his beautiful yet so rare genuine smiles. "I would never give up on that power," he whispered and closed the remaining distance between them, his lips possessively claiming hers.

Cassiopeia let herself get carried away by this feeling of utter happiness. To her it didn't matter if he was with her for the sake of the power that her magic was able to offer him. After all, that power resulted from this unique connection between them, no matter how Tom preferred to name it. He was there, and that was all that mattered to her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran a hand through his impeccably styled hair, ruffling it up into the wavy dark mess she loved so much. Tom suppressed a smirk and leaned closer to her. He had long since refrained from trying to understand how she managed to make him feel so strangely at ease. Holding her in his arms and feeling her warmth so close to him left him content in a way that was unique. He hadn't been lying, it was true, nothing compared to her.

He concentrated on the flow of his magic combined with hers, on this strong and steady pulse that was humming in his veins, and relished the feeling of unlimited power it was spreading. How foolish he had been, desperately trying to suppress his desires when he was younger, how ignorant and oblivious to this unbounded source of magic.

Unconsciously he tightened his arms around her waist, deepening the kiss ever so slightly. Thankfully she had never ceased to challenge him, never yielded despite his reluctance, never given up even though it had taken him so long to see clear at last.

 **Author's note: Thanks so much for reading!!!**


	11. Chapter 11

Once again Tom was standing in the basement of Malfoy Manor, eying the dead body that lay sprawled on the floor in the cell before him, a frown on his face. The curse was definitely still not working the way he wanted it to. He had already improved it a lot, but there remained far too many flaws. Tom pursed his lips. He had spent so many hours studying the notes and reading additional books and yet he was obviously missing some crucial details. It was frustrating. He threw a last disdainful glance at the corpse. Then he waved his wand and cleared the cell before he turned around and walked up the stairs.

When he left Malfoy Manor, a cold November breeze hit his face, accompanied by the first drops of rain. Tom pulled up the hood of his cloak and strode along the driveway. With a casual flick of his wrist he stopped his clothes from getting soaked and continued down the alley, his hands buried deep in his pockets. He inhaled deeply, relishing the cool fresh air, his mind still processing the outcome of today's experiments. The rain was getting stronger but he kept walking even though he had no idea where he was headed, realizing that he didn't know the surroundings due to the fact that he usually just disapparated from the manor. There was something relaxing about walking along the deserted alley in the pouring rain.

Tom wondered whether he should tell Cassiopeia about his experiments. Maybe she would come up with an idea why the curse wasn't working the way he wanted it to. Sometimes it was useful to look at things from another perspective and there was no doubt that in many ways Cassiopeia thought differently about things than he did. Tom pulled his cloak closer around himself and apparated to Houlton Manor.

When Tom entered the living room, he stopped in the doorway. Cassiopeia was sitting at the piano, playing a tune. Tom listened for a while before he slowly walked closer.

"I never heard you play before."

Cassiopeia didn't turn around. "I haven't played in a long time. My mother used to play when I was a child."

Tom strode over to Cassiopeia and leaned against the piano, watching her closely.

"I know how your mother died," he said abruptly. He saw Cassiopeia tense.

"So do I," she replied tonelessly.

A look of surprise crossed Tom's features. "You know? But how?" He eyed her curiously. After all, he had only found out what had happened after he had cast the curse on that girl in Mafoy's basement, thereby killing her. Cassiopeia certainly had not tried the curse.

Cassiopeia pursed her lips. "Didn't I tell you? I found her corpse. Or rather the corpse of a woman at the end of her days. She hardly resembled my mother anymore." Tom didn't miss the bitterness in her voice and he quirked an eyebrow. Cassiopeia kept her gaze at the piano's keyboard. "Back then I didn't understand what I had seen but I realized what had happened when I saw her notes the other day."

Involuntarily Tom remembered the withered features of the young woman in Malfoy's cells so many weeks ago. It had been a strange sight. He could vividly imagine seven year old Cassiopeia stumbling over her dead mother, looking nothing like the woman she had known her whole life. Tom narrowed his eyes. For someone like Cassiopeia, someone so emotional, that had doubtlessly been a devastating experience.

Tom grimaced. It hadn't escaped his notice that Cassiopeia tended to react unusually sensitive to the subject of her mother's last field of research. He was aware that she had always been ambivalent about his unyielding desire for immortality. Unfortunately, her mother's untimely death due to exactly the same obsession hadn't helped his cause in the least. Cassiopeia seemed more reluctant than ever to even consider following him in his quest for eternal life.

Tom quickly decided to abandon his original intention of telling her about his experiments at Malfoy Manor. There was no need for her to know as long as he had not yet succeeded in making the curse work the way it was supposed to and he could just as well figure out how to make it work without her help. He could tell her when the time came.

Cassiopeia turned to look at him. "So what do you want? I'm sure you didn't come to listen to me playing the piano."

Tom shrugged. "I just came here. Nothing in particular."

A small smile flickered across Cassiopeia's face. "You never grow tired of lying, do you?"

Tom's lips twitched into a smirk. "I'm still waiting for the one lie you're finally going to buy."

"You used to try harder though," Cassiopeia stated drily.

"I'll remember that next time." Tom's voice was teasing.

Cassiopeia looked into his eyes and wondered what he was thinking and why he had come in the first place. She had had the impression that he was up to something for a while now. He had spent hours and hours in her mother's study. She doubted that her mother had known anything about immortality that Tom didn't. Besides he had his Horcruxes. He didn't need anything more. And still he kept returning to the study. Cassiopeia frowned. It unnerved her that she couldn't place his intentions. She knew from experience that it was always dangerous to not foresee what he was aiming at.

Again, as so many times before, Tom seemed to be guessing her thoughts. A grin spread across his face. "I prefer being unpredictable. And you know, it's really reassuring that at least this still works with you, at least sometimes."

His gaze locked with hers, his dark eyes sparkling mischievously. "Why don't you believe I just came here to see you?" He saw that she was about to retort something and quickly put his finger on her lips. "No, don't say I don't do something like that. Don't say I'm not like that. Let's just pretend I were."

Cassiopeia looked back into his eyes and felt herself give in. After all, there was no point in arguing. She could just as well take advantage of his presence and play along. She slowly got up and leaned closer to him, whispering, "I've been waiting for you the whole day."

He smirked and closed the remaining distance between them. "So here I am."

Author's note: So here's another chapter :-) It's a little shorter than the others but I thought I'd post it nonetheless...hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!!


	12. Chapter 12

Upon returning to his lair, Tom went straight to his desk and sat down, determined to figure out how to make the ritual work at last. Since the moment when he had first read the paragraph in Astella's notes concerning the curse that was supposed to stop the process of aging, rendering the body immune to any kind of internal decay, illness or malady, he had been dead set on fixing the ritual, intending to use it on Cassiopeia once it was safe.

He still regretted deeply that he had failed to convince her of creating a Horcrux all those years ago but the successful performance of the ritual would at least prevent her from dying any kind of natural death. It was not quite what he had wanted but it was surely better than nothing.

Waving his wand, Tom summoned a quill and a parchment and quickly sketched out the ritual, trying to determine what he had missed up to now. He sat there for hours, looking at the parchment, occasionally scratching out one word or the other and adding something here and there until he was finally satisfied.

Tom stifled a yawn and glanced out of the window. It was already early morning. He slowly got up and eyed the parchment he had spent the whole night working on for another moment before he apparated to Malfoy Manor and quietly descended the stairs to the basement. It was finally time to see if he had actually been able to eliminate the last flaws.

He opened the door of the first cell with a flick of his wand and stepped inside. The witch who was cowering in the far corner threw him a frightened glance. Tom looked back at her, his eyes impassive. With a wave of his wand he conjured a camp bed in the middle of the room.

"Get up and lay down there," he ordered curtly, motioning towards the makeshift bed.

The witch shot a wary gaze at it and scrambled to her feet. Stowing his wand, Tom followed her to the bed and pulled a small vial from his pocket. When she had sat down, he thrust the bottle in her hand. "Drink that," he commanded.

The witch eyed the bottle with a panicked expression and slowly tried to open it, her fingers trembling.

Tom watched her fumbling with the lid for another moment before he exhaled exasperatedly, pulling his wand from his robes again. "I don't want to spend the whole day here," he stated, impatience clearly ringing in his tone. With a quick movement he pointed his wand at the witch and hissed, "Imperio."

Then he flicked his wand again and a sneer appeared on his face as he watched the witch downing the potion. He had to admit he liked the Imperius Curse a lot. It made interacting with others so much easier.

x-x-x-x-x

It was almost noon when Tom left the basement. He was satisfied with this morning's results. The ritual had finally turned out the way it was supposed to. Now he only needed to make sure there were no unwanted sideeffects and try it a few more times before he would be ready at last. A genuine smile graced his features. Magic was great.

When he reached the hall he heard muffled voices coming from the living room. He was momentarily surprised before he remembered that he had scheduled a meeting at noon. He pursed his lips. He had nearly forgotten about the meeting. He strode towards the doors and was about to enter when his ears caught a name that immediately sparked his interest.

"Isn't Cassiopeia going to attend?" Bellatrix' high pitched voice held a hint of surprise. Tom stopped just outside the living room and casually leaned against the wall, listening in on the conversation.

"She rarely does," Lestrange drawled condescendingly.

"But how's she participating if she's not at the meetings?" Bellatrix asked back.

"She's never been on any mission with us," Rosier stated matter-of-factly.

"But why is she even bearing the mark, if she doesn't fight to support the Dark Lord? How does she deserve it then?" Bellatrix was obviously agitated.

"Probably she's just not good enough at fighting," Dolohov said in a bored tone.

Tom heard a few others chuckle. He narrowed his eyes. Sometimes it was truly enlightening to arrive late. Who did these fools believe themselves to be, haughtily discussing his actions and decisions? His wand twitched in his hand and his magic swirled expectantly around him, itching to teach his followers a little more respect.

He was about to blast the doors open and make the bunch of idiots learn a painful lesson and maybe reconsider their little chat once again when he heard Avery's calm voice interject, "I don't think it's up to us to judge the Dark Lord's motives. But I bet Houlton's just as good at fighting as the rest of us."

Tom lowered his wand again and decided to wait for another moment.

"And you would know that exactly why, Avery?" Lestrange asked mockingly.

Avery didn't reply. Instead Rosier snickered, "Why ask, Lestrange? I should think you know it yourself."

Tom heard Lestrange huff and some soft chuckling from those who had been present that evening so long ago in the heads' common room when Cassiopeia and Lestrange had had their little quarrel. Tom couldn't quite suppress a smirk himself. That evening had surely been entertaining. It had been one of the few times when Cassiopeia had actually snapped.

Finally Tom threw the doors open with a wave of his wand and stepped inside the living room. Instantly the room fell silent and about a dozen pairs of eyes stared back at him. Tom slightly raised his eyebrows, a condescending sneer on his lips, and his followers immediately lowered their eyes, uncomfortably looking at their feet.

"I see you're already discussing our proceedings," Tom stated lightly. "I really appreciate you being so proactive." He paused, the dark gleam in his eyes contrasting sharply with the fake smile on his face. "Seeing that you're obviously all keen on fighting again I thought we should have a practice session today, don't you agree? So pair up for duels. Whoever loses their duel may then have a little extra practice, duelling me." The fake smile on his lips grew wider. He gazed at his followers and noticed with satisfaction that all of them flinched at the prospect of having to duel him. Yet none of them dared to complain, and they obediently paired up.

Tom sat down at the table and watched them duelling. It was fascinating how much power his little threat contained. They battled as if their lives depended on winning, giving each other truly hard times. Tom smirked. They were good, all of them, but none would stand a chance against him.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading, following, favouriting and reviewing! Your feedback really makes my day :-)**

 **@Guest who reviewed on the last Chapter: You said you'd like something strong to happen between T and C. I'd love to know what kind of strong you have in mind? Maybe I can work it into the story :-)**


	13. Chapter 13

Cassiopeia was in the library of Houlton Manor, sorting books. It was late afternoon and dusk had already fallen. Cassiopeia's thoughts travelled back to the day before. Tom had tried his best to keep her from pondering why he had come to Houlton Manor but he had not quite succeeded, being a little too absentminded himself. Cassiopeia bit her lip. He was clearly up to something and it irked her that she didn't know what it was. She put the book she had been holding back on the shelf with a little more force than necessary.

Suddenly she heard someone knocking on the front door and turned to leave the library. The house elf had barely answered the door when Cassiopeia already caught the dreadfully familiar screeching voice of her visitor. She suppressed a sigh and walked to the hall.

Dismissing the house elf with a wave of her hand, Cassiopeia eyed her unbidden guest and raised an eyebrow. "Bellatrix. What makes you take the trouble to visit?"

Bellatrix looked back at her and pursed her lips. "I wanted to have a word with you."

"I can't imagine there are many things we could chat about," Cassiopeia stated drily.

"I came here to see why you still don't show the Dark Lord the appropriate respect. After all, you're bearing his mark."

Cassiopeia looked at Bellatrix and cocked her head. "I see there's a witch on a mission. It really gets to you that I have this brand carved in my skin that you're longing for so badly, doesn't it?" With slight satisfaction Cassiopeia saw an irritated gleam surfacing in Bellatrix' eyes. Obviously she had hit a nerve.

"You don't even deserve it," the younger witch spat disdainfully.

Cassiopeia quirked an eyebrow. "I may be mistaken but I think it's still up to the Dark Lord to decide who's worthy of his mark and who isn't. And for all I know he doesn't like others questioning him or his decisions."

"I'm not questioning him," Bellatrix drawled haughtily. "I'm here to stop you from skiving off your duties."

"My duties?" Cassiopeia repeated incredulously.

"If you don't fight for his cause, you don't support the Dark Lord. And you don't support what the brand stands for. But that's your duty." Bellatrix glowered at her.

For a moment Cassiopeia stared back at Bellatrix. Then she replied, her voice icy, "I think that's enough. Maybe the Dark Lord appreciates your kind of brainless support. But I certainly don't, and I don't intend to discuss this with you any longer." She walked to the door and opened it, waiting for Bellatrix to leave.

But Bellatrix obviously wasn't finished yet. She glared at Cassiopeia, suddenly drawing her wand and pointing it at Cassiopeia. "You're going to fight for him the way he deserves it...," she hissed.

"...or else what?" Cassiopeia cut her short. "You're going to curse me? Oh, now I'm scared." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes. "You'd better be because I'll do it. You see, I am fighting for him." Her eyes shone with a gleam Cassiopeia knew all too well and she felt her temper flare at last.

"You have no idea what you're talking about. You have no idea of my fighting for him, or of fighting the way he deserves it for that matter," she hissed, pulling her wand from her robes as well.

Bellatrix quickly flicked her wand but Cassiopeia deflected the curse and brandished her wand in return, making the floor around Bellatrix burn with purple flames.

"Never question my loyalty ever again." Cassiopeia's voice was deadly calm, and she slowly stepped closer. "Never question my support again. And above all, never threaten me again." Her voice remained calm and even but her eyes were burning with anger. She waved her wand again, making the flames close in on Bellatrix who frantically tried to shield herself from the curse. "Rest assured I am capable of fighting, no matter what the others might say. And if you stay here so much as another minute you will witness that I am just as knowledgeable about the Dark Arts as all the others who bear this mark you're so extraordinarily keen on getting." With a swift movement Cassiopeia shoved her sleeve away, revealing the scar, and touched her skin with her wand. "And while we're already at it, what about asking the Dark Lord's opinion straight away?"

For a second Bellatrix stared at the activated mark, her eyes wide and a little disbelieving, then she hurried to the door and left the house, turning on the spot and disapparating as soon as she was outside the protective wards.

Cassiopeia's lips twitched into a smirk as she watched the now empty front yard. The frightened look in Bellatrix' eyes when she had seen the mark changing its colour had been priceless. She had been in such a hurry to leave that she had not even cared about the cursed flames she had had to pass, thus magically burning her skin and ensuring she was going to remember this visit for a while.

Cassiopeia was torn from her thoughts when she heard someone clear their throat behind her. She turned around.

Tom was standing at the other side of the hall, a frown on his face. "Did you signal me because you needed help, cursing your own hall?" he asked sarcastically.

Cassiopeia threw a glance at the remains of the purple flames she had conjured. "No. I signalled you because I thought my visitor might want to have a chat with you. But obviously she didn't."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Which visitor?"

"Someone who obviously thinks I don't commit myself enough to you." She shortly paused before she continued, "Clearly someone who doesn't know me at all for that matter. But then again, none of your cronies does..." Her voice trailed away as she thought about how little the Death Eaters actually knew about her, even after all those years.

Tom furrowed his brows. "Who?"

Tom's voice interrupted her train of thought and Cassiopeia looked back at him.

"Who?" Tom repeated, his voice irritated.

"It's not that hard to guess, is it? There's hardly anyone else who loves you madly enough to give a damn." Noticing the mischievous sparkle in his eyes, Cassiopeia pursed her lips and added, "And don't even think about saying that."

Tom smirked. "I wasn't going to say it. But you can't blame me for thinking it, can you? You made it a little too easy."

Cassiopeia snorted and waved her wand at the remaining flames, restoring the hall.

Tom pursed his lips and shoved his hands in his pockets. "So Bellatrix was here. What did she want?"

"I thought I'd already said that." Cassiopeia stowed her wand. "She wanted to remind me of my duties as a subservient Death Eater." Tom didn't miss the sarcasm in her voice and shot her a glance from the corner of his eye. Cassiopeia wasn't looking at him. She was busy rearranging the flowers on the table in the middle of the hall. "I know you never told them anything of us, and I didn't mind. But the older we get and the more of this spoilt new generation join your ranks the more they treat me as if I were some kind of traitor or parasite, having wormed my way into your inner circle without ever fighting for you. I never cared what the others think but it's consistently getting harder with all those new fanatics around you who haven't been at Hogwarts with us."

Tom eyed her silently. Finally he asked, "So what do you want me to do?"

Cassiopeia shrugged. "I don't really know. But I don't like them thinking I'm some stupid, brainless little whore who can't even produce a curse." She clenched her teeth.

Tom's lips twitched. "I don't think they consider you a whore. But you may be right with the rest." Cassiopeia shot him a glare and Tom shrugged. "But so what? You're neither stupid nor bad at magic. You know it, I know it. Why is it important if the others know it?"

"You didn't want the others to think you were ordinary either, did you? You wanted them to know you and your power. The advice to not care about their opinion is hardly convincing, coming from you of all people," Cassiopeia said drily.

Tom exhaled sharply. "You know, you're difficult. You want them to know you're good at the Dark Arts but you still refuse to use Dark Magic on others, even if they're my enemies." He shrugged again. "You'll have to decide what you want because obviously I can't give you both."

Cassiopeia didn't like to admit it but she knew he was right. She glanced at him. "So what if I want to fight?"

Tom eyed her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then he said quietly, "Believe me, you don't want to." After a moment he added, his eyebrow quirked, "You were never ready to tear your soul for me, so it would honestly bug me if you were ready to do it for them." There was the ghost of a smirk playing on his lips but Cassiopeia could tell that he wasn't joking as much as he probably would have liked to.

A small smile spread across her face. "You're probably right, once again," she said and looked at the flowers in front of her.

Tom slowly strode over to her. When he stood next to her, she looked up at him. His eyes were gleaming darkly and he leaned closer to her. "Don't worry what they're thinking. They don't matter, only I do. And I think you're just the way you're supposed to be."

Cassiopeia felt his lips claiming hers possessively and she leaned in to him, forgetting the world around her.

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading, I love your support! Please leave some comments, it's always great to know what you're thinking!!**


	14. Chapter 14

It was a cold December day a few weeks later when Tom stepped out of his lair, pulling his cloak tighter around himself. He walked down the driveway that had once led visitors from the gates up to Riddle Manor. Nowadays it was magically enchanted to painfully poison whoever set foot on the property without Tom's permission. The snow crunched under Tom's boots as he strode towards the gates but he didn't pay attention. With a flick of his wrist the gates creaked open and he turned on the main road leading to the Gaunt's shack. The street was empty. Muggles mainly avoided this part of Little Hangleton where there were happening so many strange and creepy things. A smile crossed Tom's features. He had not yet completely succeeded in ending the secrecy of the wizarding world. But at least here the Muggles were subconsciously growing more and more aware of the existence of a lot of things they couldn't quite explain.

When he reached the old shack, he eyed the building contemptuously. The Gaunts had been the last living descendants of the great Salazar Slytherin and yet they had lived in the dirtiest and most shabby cottage he had ever seen. Involuntarily he remembered Cassiopeia's words from that night he had tried, and failed, so hard to forget. 'Probably your father's blood is the only reason why your mind is not as deranged as your uncle's.' The words were still ringing in his head. When the initial shock of all the things she had thrown at him that night had finally worn off these words had kept coming back to him. Was it actually true? Was his father's blood, this disgusting, filthy, tainted Muggle blood, the only reason why he had not ended up like his uncle and grandfather, insanely living in the dirt, not being able to say a coherent English sentence, only madly talking to snakes? He vehemently detested the idea that he might owe anything to this scum that had happened to be his father, worst of all his sanity.

Tom clenched his jaw and kicked the door open. The snake that had been nailed to the door wobbled slightly. The interior of the shack was dark and dusty and Tom's eyes adjusted slowly. He did not even know why he had come here in the first place. He narrowed his eyes, gazing around. He remembered the first time he had set foot into this miserable hut. He had known nothing about his origins and what his uncle had been able to tell him had been thoroughly disappointing. But at least he had been able to take revenge for how his paternal family had done him wrong.

Tom's thoughts travelled back to Cassiopeia. He realized he had never asked her how she had managed to block his Memory Charm back then. Thinking about it, in his mind's eye, he saw her trying every spell she could find, never knowing if the charms would actually be able to protect her in the end. The corners of Tom's mouth twitched. She had to have been truly afraid of him trying to tamper with her memory. There was no denying that obviously she had been remarkably realistic from the very beginning, never fooling herself into believing he were the kind of bad boy who would be good just for her. A smile crossed Tom's features. That was exactly what made her so special, this extraordinary ability to know him so well and still care for him despite this knowledge.

He carefully pulled a small vial from his pocket and looked at it. He knew he had tried the ritual often enough at last. He wanted to make it finally happen. He put the vial back into his pocket and apparated to Houlton Manor.

When he entered the dining room, Cassiopeia was sitting at the table looking through old documents. He watched her for a moment before he quickly strode over to her. When he was standing next to her, he cleared his throat and stated, "I finally found a way that will keep you from aging and thus from dying without having to create a Horcrux."

Cassiopeia looked up and eyed him warily. She sighed. "I thought we have talked this over, again and again. There is no way to stop aging. My mother died trying."

Tom pursed his lips. "Your mother died, that's right. But only because the curse backfired, making her age even faster. I refined the ritual and now it works."

"How do you know?" Cassiopeia cocked her head.

"I tried it," Tom replied.

Cassiopeia shot him a sceptical glance. "How? You are immortal. You don't age."

Tom smirked. "I had help."

Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow. "There was someone crazy enough to help you?"

"I didn't exactly give them a choice." Tom's smirk grew wider.

"Where are they?" Cassiopeia asked, even though she was sure she didn't want to know the answer.

Tom shrugged. "Gone."

"Gone," Cassiopeia repeated tonelessly. "I guess you killed them?"

Tim shrugged again. "Obviously. I certainly don't want to share eternity with random others."

"But you are still certain you want to share it with me?"

Tom didn't answer, his gaze on the vial he had pulled from his pocket. Watching him, Cassiopeia added drily, "At least for now?"

A grin crossed Tom's face. "Yes, at least for now. Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind if you stay that cheeky forever."

With a swift movement Tom put the vial on the table. Inside there was a dark purple potion. Cassiopeia threw a glance at it.

"You expect me to drink that?"

Tom nodded. "You can trust me. It's safe."

Cassiopeia still looked wary. Tom smirked. "Really, it's safe," he repeated. "If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't do it that complicatedly. You know, I'm more..."

"...straightforward?" Cassiopeia finished the sentence for him.

"Precisely."

Cassiopeia sighed again. "I know. And normally I trust your magic unconditionally. But this time..." her voice trailed away.

"What is it? Where's the problem?" Tom threw her a questioning glance.

Cassiopeia bit her lip. "It's this ritual that cost my mother's life." Her voice was hollow.

Tom slowly shook his head. "It won't cost yours. Your mother made mistakes. This time I will do it. I am with you. I don't make mistakes." With a quick movement he grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him until she was standing in front of him, still avoiding his gaze. He lifted her chin with his free hand, making her look up to him. "I want you to stay the way you are. I want you to stay with me. I wouldn't make you do this if I thought it was risky." His voice was persuasive.

Cassiopeia looked into his dark eyes and bit her lip even harder. Finally she whispered, "I am scared."

Tom narrowed his eyes. He looked surprised. "You don't have to be." He tried to sound soothing. "I have already cast trickier curses and mastered them. I have tried this one more than once. I know I will get it right." He paused. "I promise I wouldn't do it if I had any doubt."

Cassiopeia glanced at the vial. After a moment she said uncertainly, "So what happens when I drink the potion?"

Tom eyed her for a moment. "Do you really want to know?"

Cassiopeia nodded slowly.

Tom pursed his lips. "Well, you will have to lay down for the potion to spread. The potion will make your body freeze."

Cassiopeia's eyes grew wide and Tom knew she was about to complain but he cut her short. "Then I need access to your blood to conserve it. Basically, I'm going to cut your veins, conserve the blood, heal the wounds and then we only have to wait for the freezing to wear off." He shrugged. "That's it."

"That's it?" Cassiopeia repeated incredulously. Tom threw her a questioning glance. Cassiopeia shook her head agitatedly. "There's a whole bunch of things that can go wrong. And you just say, 'that's it'?"

Tom shrugged again. "I've done it often enough."

Cassiopeia looked back at him. Finally she asked, "What does the incantation require?"

Tom pursed his lips. "Let's just say, I can assure you that I meet the necessary requirements. I don't think there's any need for details." Seeing that she was about to protest he continued, "Let me put it like this. You don't want to know the details. All you have to do is drink the potion."

Cassiopeia threw him another glance. Then she turned around and slowly walked over to the window. For a moment she just stood there watching the rain outside.

"What if I don't want to?" Her voice was barely audible.

Tom looked surprised. "Why would you not want to?"

Cassiopeia continued to look out of the window. "What's so bad about getting old?"

Tom ran a hand through his hair and followed her over to the window. "Are you kidding me? It's humiliating. Watching the own body succumb to all its weaknesses and eventually die. Who wouldn't take the opportunity to avoid that?"

"But that's the way nature's planned for human beings." Cassiopeia paused. "The ritual is a violation of nature."

Tom felt his temper flare, and he didn't even try to keep it in check. With a quick movement he grabbed Cassiopeia's wrists, turned her around and pressed her against the wall next to the window, his magic swirling dangerously around them. "Now listen carefully. There is no way I will let you put nature's possible plans over mine. Maybe you don't mind if you get old and weak. But I don't want to watch you wasting away. I don't want to watch you dying one day. I abandoned my original plan to have you make a Horcrux because I decided to accept your wish to not tear your soul apart. But now I offer you a way to get the closest to immortality that you possibly can without creating a Horcrux, and all you have to do is drink that damn potion, no damage to your precious soul, no lasting damage to your body. And now you worry about nature? No. There is absolutely no way you are going to back out of this."

Cassiopeia glared at Tom. His magic was still radiating violently from him, making his point more than clear. Cassiopeia huffed. "And once again your motives are all selfish."

Suddenly there was a slight change in his magic's vibration, and Tom's lips twisted into a wicked grin. "There's nothing new about that, now, is there?"

He slightly loosened his grip on her arms and with a flick of his wrist he had the vial with the potion back in his hand again, holding it up in front of her. "Just to make things clear. You are going to take that potion. Either you drink it voluntarily or I am going to make you drink it. It's your choice."

Cassiopeia looked back at him and his fake innocent smile and knew he was going to win once again. She could see it in his eyes that he was deadly serious. He would make her take the potion either way and she was sure she didn't want to find out how. She sighed and slowly reached out for the small bottle, taking it from his hand.

Tom looked satisfied. "We'll do it tonight. I'll come to your bedroom at nine." With that he turned on the spot and disapparated.

x-x-x-x

Author's note: So here's another chapter :-) Hope you enjoyed it!


	15. Chapter 15

At nine o'clock that evening Tom knocked on Cassiopeia's door. Not waiting for her answer he stepped inside. Cassiopeia was sitting at her dressing table, brushing her hair.

Tom noiselessly closed the door behind himself and watched Cassiopeia getting up and walking over to her night desk. Sitting down on the bed, she carefully opened the first drawer. Tom noticed that her fingers were trembling when she reached for the vial. She eyed the small bottle in her hand for a moment before she finally closed the drawer and turned to him. For a moment their gazes locked and they looked into each other's eyes. Then he slowly walked over to the bed and sat down next to her, pulling his wand from his pocket and twirling it in his fingers. Up to now neither of them had spoken a word.

Cassiopeia gazed at the yew wand in Tom's hands, and a look of surprise crossed her features. "I haven't seen this wand in quite a while," she stated quietly.

Tom stopped twirling the wand and thoughtfully looked down at it. After a moment he said, "The Elder Wand is doubtlessly powerful in combat. But tonight..." He paused, his eyes still trained on the wand in his hands. "This is personal. Tonight I want a wand that's always been loyal to me, and me only. Tonight I need my wand."

A small smile flickered across Cassiopeia's face. She felt a comforting warmth spread deep inside. She had grown used to Tom's emotionless personality long ago and she knew him well enough to be aware that this was one of the most emotional statements she would ever get from him. Cassiopeia put her hand on Tom's. Her fingers brushed carefully against the wood of his wand and suddenly the memory of sixteen-year-old Tom standing next to her bed, his wand drawn, his eyes drenched in cold fury, his voice deadly calm and icy flashed through her mind. "Do you regret that it didn't work?"

For the fraction of a second Tom looked confused. Then he guessed her thoughts and slightly cocked his head. "No," he replied, "I never did."

The corners of Cassiopeia's mouth twitched into a smile and she withdrew her hand and carefully opened the lid of the vial. For a moment she eyed the purple potion thoughtfully. Then she asked hoarsely, her gaze still fixed on the potion, "Does it hurt? Did you ever ask them if it hurts?" Her voice was calm but Tom didn't miss the hint of anxiety.

He cast her a sideways glance. "You are strong," he said evasively. "Don't focus on feeling pain."

Cassiopeia turned towards him and their eyes locked once again. "I hope you know what you're doing." Her voice was only a whisper. Tom kept looking back at her but didn't reply. Finally Cassiopeia took a deep breath. Then she put the vial to her lips and drank the potion.

Immediately she felt coldness flooding her body. She cringed and lay down on the bed. And then, quite unexpectedly, she felt Tom pressing his lips gently against hers. She opened her eyes and wanted to raise her hand but her arm was already numb. Tom was still looking at her, his dark eyes calm and reassuring. Cassiopeia focused on the taste of his lips on hers, desperately trying to block out the piercing pain that felt like millions of needles that were cutting through her. And then she lost consciousness.

Tom slowly pulled away and watched her frozen form for a moment. She looked so calm and placid.

Suddenly a thought crossed his mind, accompanied by a strange longing. He exhaled slowly, pursing his lips. It would be so easy. There would be no mental shields, no limitations whatsoever. He would be able to see it all, and she wouldn't hurt, she wouldn't even know.

His wand twitched in his hand. The idea of using Legilimency now was truly tempting. And yet, for some incomprehensible reason, he couldn't quite convince himself to get going and invade her mind because to his utter surprise something inside of him vehemently rejected this kind of betrayal. He narrowed his eyes and looked down at his wand. He had never experienced this before. It surely felt strange.

Finally he glanced back at Cassiopeia and clenched his fist. "Damn, it would be so easy..." He cocked his head. "How on earth do you do that?"

Then he focused on the ritual again, concentrating hard for a moment, before he tightened the grip on his wand and set to work.

One hour later Tom was almost done. He carefully healed the last cuts and covered Cassiopeia's body with a blanket. Then he sat next to her on the bed and leaned back against the headboard.

Throwing a look around the room, his gaze fell on a bookshelf. With a wave of his wand he summoned a book from the shelf and started reading, occasionally eying Cassiopeia for any sign of the freezing potion beginning to wear off.

He had been reading for nearly two hours when Cassiopeia finally stirred. Tom closed the book and glanced at her. She groaned and opened her eyes, slowly turning her head towards him.

"How do you feel?" Tom asked.

Cassiopeia groaned again. "Like I've been run over by a train or maybe hit by a Bludger, smashing every single bone in my body..." She carefully turned her head a little further until she could look at him. "Did it work?"

Tom cocked an eyebrow. "Of course it did."

"Don't blame me for asking. I just feel a whole lot older than before," she stated drily.

Tom chuckled. "Don't worry, that's only temporary, probably due to the injuries."

Cassiopeia carefully raised her arms and examined her skin. However, there wasn't much to be seen. Tom seemed to have healed the cuts almost tracelessly. But then again, she knew she shouldn't be surprised. After all, it was Tom. He was mostly perfect at doing magic anyways. Cassiopeia slowly wiped her face with her sleeve.

"You need to rest," Tom stated calmly. "Get some sleep and in the morning you'll feel much better."

He made to get up from the bed but Cassiopeia seized his arm and held him back. "Please stay here. Stay with me."

Tom eyed her for a moment. "Are you sure?"

The corners of Cassiopeia's mouth twitched slightly. "Of course I am."

Tom continued to look at her, his expression unreadable. After a moment he nodded. "Fine. But you'll have to let me change." He smirked and threw a pointed glance at Cassiopeia's hand holding his arm.

Cassiopeia let go of him and watched him leave for the bathroom. Moments later he returned and drew back the covers, slipping into the bed next to her. She turned to look at him again. "You know, you got me into this, so I think it's only fair if you stay through this."

Tom looked back at her and smirked. "I could imagine worse. But now you really have to sleep." He waved his hand and the lights went out.

Lying down, he felt Cassiopeia resting her head sleepily against his shoulder, and he listened to her breathing becoming calm and even almost instantly as she fell asleep.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Hope you liked the chapter :)**


	16. Chapter 16

Cassiopeia woke to the sound of soft snoring next to her. It took her a while to remember what had happened the night before. With slight surprise she realized that the pain that had been so prominent when she had fallen asleep had subsided completely. She was feeling more alert and stronger than ever.

A grin crossed her face. Probably this time she would actually have to thank Tom for being his usual persistent self in forcing her into this ritual she had originally dreaded so much.

She slowly turned to the side and glanced at him, the man lying next to her, still fast asleep. Cassiopeia couldn't remember a single time that he had ever purposely stayed through the night, just sleeping in the same bed, by her side, feigning a comforting normality that regrettably didn't exist. It was a first and she couldn't help but feel a deep happiness. He seemed so relaxed, the way he had rolled to his side, the covers drawn almost all the way up to his eyes, his bunch of dark hair sprawled messily on the pillow. Cassiopeia suppressed a sigh. He looked so unbelievably normal and ordinary.

She knew that Tom would doubtlessly consider this an insult but to her it was far from that. It was rather an illusion which, to make it real, she would be ready to sell her soul for without thinking twice. Living a normal, ordinary life, together with Tom, sharing a bed, sharing a home, maybe, very recklessly, even sharing a family. She had lost track of the number of times she had dreamed about that, so far from reality.

Suddenly she desperately wanted to move closer to him, feel the warmth of his body and the steady pulse of his breathing. She wanted him to take her in his arms and tell her all those things she knew he would never say. The corners of her mouth curled slightly at the thought and she pressed her lips together. It was pointless to be longing for that. After all, this was Tom.

Cassiopeia rolled onto her back again and closed her eyes, biting back tears that were suddenly threatening to spill. A sensation of bitterness crept into her heart. If Tom knew how she was feeling he would surely smirk this unparalleled smirk of his and call her pathetic. But, Merlin, she was only human, wasn't she?

"What are you thinking about?"

Tom's voice tore the silence and Cassiopeia gave a jerk. She looked at him, a slightly haunted expression in her eyes, but didn't reply.

Tom arched an eyebrow. "Now I'm even more curious to know the answer."

Cassiopeia felt her cheeks heat up and inwardly cursed herself for that. "Never mind," she muttered. Without looking at him she knew his lips were shaping into their favourite position.

"You've never been good at lying," he teased. "Actually quite surprising, I would have thought spending so much time with me would have made you improve your skills."

"Actually not so much. I don't like lies. Maybe that's why I'm not good at it," Cassiopeia retorted sarcastically. "But now that you gave me the prospect of living so much longer, maybe I'll start practising."

A grin spread across Tom's face. "Great. I can't wait for it."

"Well, while we're at it, if you want to know what I'm thinking, I can tell you. I want to do something useful with my time again. I'd never thought I'd ever say this but I've grown tired of pointless reading and studying. I want to teach this knowledge to others again." Cassiopeia looked at Tom.

He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. "There's no more need for homeschool teachers and there's no vacancy at Hogwarts."

"I can teach at one of the asylums or at the school for Muggle-borns." Cassiopeia shrugged. "I don't mind teaching Muggle-born children. They are just as inquisitive and eager for knowledge as children from magical families, if not even more so."

Tom's eyes narrowed even further. "You don't honestly expect me to let you share all your knowledge of magic with Mudbloods, do you?"

Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows. "Why not? Are you worried I might teach them how to defend themselves against this unsubstantiated discrimination they suffer under Lord Voldemort and his pure-blooded Death Eaters?" Cassiopeia's voice was slightly bitter. "I will have to make sure to always cover my arm though, otherwise I might appear somewhat devious."

Tom eyed her sternly for a moment. Then he shook his head and said with a firm voice, "No teaching Mudbloods."

Cassiopeia pursed her lips. "That's not your decision. You can't dictate that to me."

Tom smirked back at her. "I don't have to dictate that to you. I'll simply dictate it to the others. I'm pretty sure no one is going to employ you if I want them to reject your application. It just so happens that people mostly don't like being tortured and Lestrange, Rosier, Mulciber and Avery are really very effective. I think I'll have that covered before you can even apply."

Cassiopeia glared at him and clenched her teeth. "And just as always you're not playing fair," she hissed and turned away. "But, of course, that's no surprise." After a moment she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "So what does his lordship suggest I should do then?"

The complacent smirk disappeared from Tom's face and for a moment he watched her thoughtfully. Then he said calmly, "Teach my people."

"What?" Cassiopeia's gaze shot back at him and she eyed him with disbelief. "I don't think there's anything I could possibly teach a bunch of Death Eaters."

"Contrary to you, I think there is," Tom replied matter-of-factly. "Hogwarts only covers basic Dark Arts, not too much, not too deep. After all, it wouldn't be wise to impart profound knowledge to potential enemies, would it? So there's a lot they don't know when they leave Hogwarts. It's all up to their families to show them how to be useful for our cause. I guess you could teach them far more..." His voice trailed away.

Cassiopeia looked back at him, her face expressionless. Finally she said, "I probably could. I'm not quite convinced that I should though."

The smirk crept back on Tom's face. "I trust that you're going to choose to support the right side in the end." He turned towards her and propped himself up on his elbow, leaning over to her. "So now tell me what you were really thinking earlier." His voice was deliberately seductive and his eyes were gleaming darkly.

Cassiopeia looked back at him and narrowed her eyes. "I was trying to determine if I should envy your emotional detachment. But I guess, if anything, I should rather envy your inconsiderateness. Must make life really simple..." Her voice trailed off as Tom pushed himself up on his arms and bent over her.

"You think too much. And you presume too much." He moved closer, his eyes searching hers attentively. "I give you as much as I can, and it's already far more than I ever thought I'd be capable of." He paused before he continued, "I know what you've been thinking, and it's not even necessary to be good at Legilimency for that, because it's written all over your face." He pursed his lips. "Don't blame me for being the way I am." He bent down until his lips touched hers. When he felt Cassiopeia responding to his kiss, he suppressed a smirk and slowly moved closer.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading!**


	17. Chapter 17

Cassiopeia eyed the letter she had just finished writing and reread it carefully. A smile crossed her face. She dipped the quill into the ink again and signed the letter - Yours sincerely, Cynthia O'Leary.

She leaned back on her chair. Ever since her conversation with Tom she had not been able to get the idea of teaching children again out of her head. She had really loved teaching and she still remembered how sad she had been when Tom had told her that he would forbid homeschooling. It had always been great to see the children get a grasp of their magic. It would probably be even more intense with Muggle-born children, given the fact that they had not grown up knowing magic. And it surely didn't compare to showing a couple of aspiring Death Eaters how to be even more effective.

Cassiopeia had to admit that the thought of teaching at the school for Muggle-borns had kept ghosting through her mind ever since, even though Tom had been unmistakable on the fact that he would do everything it took to prevent her from teaching there. She didn't doubt that he had already made sure she wasn't going to get any job offer if she were to apply.

But the more she had been thinking about it, the more an idea had started creeping into her mind. It was probably crazy but definitely very tenacious. If people didn't know it was her, they couldn't reject her.

So she had spent her evenings trying to come up with a convincing cover story, in the beginning simply out of fun but finally more and more seriously. By now she had a good idea of all the details of the life of Cynthia O'Leary.

She took a pile of parchments from her desk. Flipping through the pages once again she threw a last glance at her reports. They looked rather authentic. She had revised her O.W.L. and N.E.W.T grades a little, making them more average in order to not arouse too much attention. With satisfaction she noted that the fake name didn't look fake at all on the parchments. She folded the pile of parchments and put it into a thick brown envelope.

Picking up her wand, she went to the mirror and gazed at her reflection for a moment before she waved her wand at her hair, changing it to black, shoulder length, curly locks. Then she altered her eye colour to a matching dark brown. After performing another few charms on her features she was quite satisfied with her new appearance. She looked different.

Then she grabbed the envelope and apparated to Diagon Alley. The street was quite crowded, seeing that it was Christmas break and many families were enjoying their time together going shopping. Cassiopeia walked to the owlery.

The wizard who was taking care of the mail smiled at her, "Good afternoon, miss. Can I help you?"

"I would like to post this letter." Cassiopeia gave him the envelope and the wizard tied it to one of the owls.

"That's eight sickles, please," he said.

Cassiopeia pulled the coins out of her pocket. "Do you happen to have any post office boxes available?"

"Of course, miss. Rent is 2 galleons a month."

Cassiopeia nodded. "Then I'd like to rent one."

The wizard placed a form on the counter. Cassiopeia quickly filled it out and handed it back together with the rent for the first month.

The following weeks Cassiopeia returned to Diagon Alley every other day, checking her box at the owlery.

Two weeks after sending her application she finally received a reply. When she opened the letter, she felt excited.

Unfolding the parchment she scanned its content. It was an invitation to an interview the following week. A smile crossed Cassiopeia's face.

When she arrived at the School for Muggle-born Witchcraft and Wizardry one week later she eyed the surroundings curiously. The school looked quite different from Hogwarts. It was a plain grey building with three stories. Cassiopeia strode to the entrance and the caretaker showed her the way to the headmaster's office.

She took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. A few moments later the door was opened by a man in his late fifties. He threw her a questioning glance.

"Good Morning. My name is Cynthia O'Leary..."

A smile appeared on the wizard's face. "Ah, Miss O'Leary! I'm Headmaster Horatio Monroe." He motioned her to follow him. "Please take a seat."

Cassiopeia sat down in front of the desk. The headmaster took a pile of parchments which Cassiopeia recognized to be her application.

"Miss O'Leary...I take it's miss?"

"Yes. I'm not married."

"And your blood status is half-blood?"

Cassiopeia suppressed a sigh. Oh brave new world where the blood status was ranking higher than the academic qualifications. She nodded.

"You didn't attend Hogwarts though?"

"No, but I took my O.W.L. and N.E.W.T." She gestured at the parchments.

"Yes, I saw you achieved remarkable results."

Cassiopeia smiled, "Thank you," silently wondering what he would have thought about her actual results if he already considered her downgraded marks 'remarkable'.

"So, I think you're aware that we are a school for Muggle-born students only?" When Cassiopeia nodded, the headmaster continued, "How do you feel about Muggle-born magic?"

Cassiopeia looked back at him, inwardly frowning at the strangeness of this question. Choosing her words carefully, she answered, "I think it's not wise to underestimate Muggle-born magic."

Headmaster Monroe eyed her for a long moment. Then he nodded. "Well, we're always in need of adequate teachers so for all I care you could start teaching here right away. But all our new teachers have to be interviewed by the special forces of our government first. So if you pass that interview I'll be delighted to welcome you to our institution."

Cassiopeia swallowed. "The special forces?"

"Yes. There'll be coming someone of those..." His voice trailed off.

"Now?" Cassiopeia resisted the urge to jump up from her seat.

The headmaster simply nodded, oblivious to her concern.

Cassiopeia tried to relax but it wasn't that easy. The special forces surely were the Death Eaters. Depending on who of them was going to come, her little adventure might just be over before it even started.

"I'll take you next door. You can wait there."

Cassiopeia followed the headmaster to a small room furnitured with a table and two chairs.

"I wish you good luck and would be happy to see you soon." Headmaster Monroe smiled again and left the room.

Cassiopeia eyed the chairs for a moment but decided against sitting down. After a while the door opened again and Cassiopeia unconsciously held her breath.

It was Dolohov who entered the room. Cassiopeia exhaled slowly. At least he was none of the Slytherin gang who had known her almost all her life. He would hopefully not recognize her.

Dolohov took a seat and shot her a bored glance. "O'Leary? Sit down."

Cassiopeia nodded and sat down on the chair opposite him.

"Blood status?" His voice was sharp and somehow accusing.

"Pu...uhm half-blood," Cassiopeia replied.

Dolohov eyed her disdainfully. "What are you going to do if one of the Mudbloods here doesn't behave?"

Cassiopeia stared back at him. The way he had asked his question irritated her, as did the question itself but if she wanted this job she had to play along. "I'll report them."

"How do you react if a pure-blood orders you to do something?"

Cassiopeia resisted the urge to scream at him. Instead she lowered her eyes and said, "I'll obey."

Dolohov nodded and pushed his chair back. "Ok. You may teach the filth. But always remember, no advanced magic, no Dark Arts, no defence. We'll know if you disobey and we won't tolerate it."

"Yes."

Dolohov eyed her sternly for another moment, momentarily looking as if he was going to say something further but then he got up and left the room without another word.

Cassiopeia watched him leave and slowly relaxed.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: There we go with another chapter! Hope you enjoyed it :)**


	18. Chapter 18

Cassiopeia felt truly excited when she entered the greyish school building for her first day of work. She was supposed to teach Transfiguration and she was curious to get to know her students and colleagues at last.

When she opened the door to the staff room, three pairs of eyes instantly turned in her direction.

She slowly stepped into the room. "Hi, I'm Cynthia O'Leary, the new teacher for Transfiguration."

The two men and one woman who had been sitting at a table together got up. One of the men, a wizard with short brown hair held out his hand. "Hi. My name's Percival McGregor. I'm teaching Potions. These are Melody Whittaker and Lance Fowler. Mel's subject is Herbology and Lance teaches Arithmancy." He gestured at the other two.

Cassiopeia took Percival's hand and shook it. Then she nodded at Melody and Lance who smiled back at her.

Melody was a petite witch with shining short blonde hair and Lance a tall guy with light brown hair that he had pulled into a pony tail. They seemed friendly and Cassiopeia instantly liked them.

"Have you been teaching before?" Melody asked.

"I used to homeschool a couple of children before it got prohibited," Cassiopeia stated, a little sadness ringing in her tone.

"Me too," Lance said. "I was really disappointed when it became illegal. I didn't quite like that decision."

There was a moment of silence and Cassiopeia realized they were all waiting for her reaction. She eyed them for a moment, suddenly grasping that nowadays, in this world, it was more essential for survival than anything to have an idea what the others were thinking about the government, which meant about the Death Eaters, which meant about Lord Voldemort.

She pursed her lips. "I was actually very sad as well. The government's decisions are sometimes hard to take."

Melody nodded and Percival said, "Sooner or later you'll come to experience that we're doing a job that isn't exactly respected. Many people feel we're teaching the wrong students. But you'll also see that a lot of the children are really great and some even outstanding."

"I'm curious to get to know them." Cassiopeia threw a glance at her timetable. "I have the third years now."

"They are great kids," Melody smiled.

The four of them left the staff room and went to their respective classrooms.

When Cassiopeia had closed the door of her classroom she looked at the children in front of her who were eying her attentively.

"Good morning. I'm Professor O'Leary and we'll be doing Transfiguration together. First I'd like to find out what you already know. Here are some items you might be able to transfigure into something else. Please get one of those items and start transfiguring it into whatever you're capable of and I'll just watch you for a while."

The students obediently made their way to her desk and gathered the items. Cassiopeia could tell that they were all keen on showing what they could do and a smile crossed her face. She already liked being here.

The next lesson was the class of second year. The students were equally enthusiastic and followed Cassiopeia's instructions carefully.

The first day of work rushed by and so did the following days. One by one, Cassiopeia got to know the other teachers. Besides Percival, Melody and Lance there were Felix, Maya, Jason and Liv. They were all half-bloods and they were all teaching with enthusiasm. Cassiopeia truly relished being finally surrounded by people who didn't obsess about their blood status for the first time since many years.

Her students were mostly nice kids, too. There was no denying that they all suffered from having been taken away from their parents and families as soon as it had turned out that they were magical, but they still enjoyed the greatness of magic and loved learning about it.

In the mornings and after work Cassiopeia always apparated to a secluded place she had found in a forest nearby to change her appearance. Thus she neither risked being seen as Cynthia around Houlton Manor nor as Cassiopeia at school. It was a little inconvenient but she knew it was the price she had to pay for being able to teach again.

When Cassiopeia returned home at the end of her fourth week of work and walked into the living room, Tom was lounging in the armchair, casually twirling his wand and obviously waiting.

"Where have you been?" His voice was deliberately light.

"Since when do you care?" Cassiopeia asked back.

"Since you keep disappearing without a trace day after day," Tom stated.

"I didn't know you were keeping track of my whereabouts." Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow. Tom didn't reply. Looking at him, she shrugged. "I've been visiting with Professor Mangroves."

"The old Ancient Runes Professor Mangroves? The one who's already been nearly one hundred when we were at Hogwarts?" Tom asked, his voice full of sarcasm.

"He wasn't that old, but yes, him. We've been discussing the Ancient Runes he's recently discovered on some artefacts."

Tom shot her a glance. "You honestly expect me to believe you've been discussing Ancient Runes five days a week for nearly a month? That's an amazing amount of time."

Cassiopeia held his gaze. "If you say so." She paused. "He's got a lot of artefacts."

Tom narrowed his eyes. "And I suppose he'd confirm this if I asked him?"

Cassiopeia still held his gaze. "Of course. He'd surely love if you visited," she smiled innocently. "After all, you've always been his favourite. Maybe you could even help him with some runes."

Tom pulled a face. "I'm glad that I survived that last Ancient Runes lesson so long ago. It always bored me to death."

"What a pity." Cassiopeia suppressed a smirk. "Because I even brought you some runes thinking you'd like to help translate them." She placed an ancient looking stone on the coffee table in front of him.

Tom gazed at it and then back at Cassiopeia. "Ancient Runes? Really?" He slowly got up and took the stone. He threw a glance at it and then put it back down. "Well, have fun translating it."

Cassiopeia watched him walk to the door. When he had nearly reached it, she asked drily, "So that's it? Checking up on me and then disappearing again? I know you've never been overly social but you really used to try harder. I don't even remember when we last spent actual time together, just reading, discussing magic or maybe even experimenting."

Tom looked back at her. He didn't remember either.

"You've taken to simply walking in and out of my life in a way I come to like less and less." She narrowed her eyes. "I wonder...why did it even matter to you if I'm going to die one day if you don't actually care about spending time with me now that I'm alive?"

Tom's features remained expressionless but he pursed his lips. "I've been spending time with you."

Cassiopeia's lip twitched. "You know exactly that's not what I'm talking about. We haven't spent that time the way we used to spend it. You've come here when it pleased you and you've stayed exactly as long as it pleased you. Actually you only came here whenever you were feeling in need of some...well, whatever it is we're doing."

Tom clenched his teeth but didn't reply. Cassiopeia sat down on the sofa and took the stone from the table. Waving her wand she summoned a quill and a parchment along with a black leather book from the bookshelf. Opening the book she started examining the first rune. When she realized that Tom was still standing at the door, she threw him a look. "Good evening, Tom."

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading!!!**


	19. Chapter 19

Tom stared back at Cassiopeia, his expression unreadable. After a moment he slowly walked closer to the fireside where she was sitting.

"You really want to translate these runes?" he asked, slight disbelief ringing in his tone. Cassiopeia turned to look at him. Even though she didn't reply, he saw it in her eyes that she was serious. He eyed her for another moment. Then he cocked his head and said, "Ok, let's do it."

He pulled his wand from his pocket and flicked it at the fireplace, lighting the fire. Then he summoned two more books as well as some sheets of parchment and a quill and took a seat in the armchair again. He leaned forward to pick up the stone and examined it for a while before he finally said, "I'll do the second row of runes."

Cassiopeia nodded silently. Tom carefully copied the runes onto the parchment, opened one of the books and started translating the first rune.

After a while Cassiopeia glanced at Tom from the corner of her eye. He was completely immersed in his work and she couldn't suppress a smile, realizing only now how much she had actually missed this, how she had missed studying alongside him and seeing this innocent look of intense concentration on his face.

Her thoughts travelled back to their conversation from earlier. Honestly, she hadn't been expecting him to stay and help with the translation. After all, she was well aware that Ancient Runes had never been his favourite subject even though he had naturally excelled in it. But then again, there was no subject he hadn't bested everyone in.

She had known he was going to investigate where she was disappearing to sooner or later and that she would need a convincing explanation when the time came and she had been ready for quite a while by now.

Even if she had not been absolutely honest about her whereabouts she hadn't been lying either. She had in fact started visiting with Professor Mangroves a while ago. He had shown her the many artefacts he had gathered on his trips to Ireland. They were all covered with complicated ancient runes he claimed to have never seen before. Cassiopeia's curiosity had instantly stirred, along with the realization that this was the perfect cover for her absence while teaching.

She had spent quite some time with Professor Mangroves, fully aware that it was far easier to perform a successful Memory Charm on the old professor which would provide a cast-iron memory that would withstand Tom's inquisition if there was some truth at the bottom of the memory she planted into his mind.

"I thought I was going to help you, not that I was going to do it all by myself," Tom suddenly remarked drily, interrupting her train of thought.

Cassiopeia's gaze shot up again, only to see Tom looking at her, his ususal smirk on his face. When their eyes met, he turned his attention back to the book in front of him and Cassiopeia resumed her translation as well.

It was already way past midnight when Tom finally closed his book with a loud thud. "I'm done. What about you?"

Cassiopeia finished scribbling a few words on her parchment and shoved it over to him. "Same."

Tom took the parchment and eyed the notes for a while. "Seems to make sense, that translation." He held his own notes out for her and Cassiopeia read them carefully.

"Mangroves will be delighted when I tell him you helped with the runes. Don't you want to join us next time?"

Tom raised an eyebrow. "I guess that question's only rhetorical," he smirked. Then he got up. "I assume you're aware that I hate Ancient Runes." He paused. "So I'd rather you'd choose something else next time."

x-x-x-x

The weeks passed and Cassiopeia accustomed herself more and more to her new life. She didn't know if Tom had paid Professor Mangroves a visit to check up on her story but he never asked for her whereabouts again. She continued visiting with the professor, discussing the runes and translations with him and secretly keeping refreshing her Memory Charm on him.

The professor never mentioned Tom but then again, if Tom had been there he surely had altered the old man's memory as well.

The school year was passing rather quickly and her students were advancing well. They were all very clever which made teaching them a lot of fun. Of course that was probably due to the fact that only those Muggle-born children got the chance to attend school who had proved to be unusually talented during the programme at the asylums.

Yet there were a few children who stood out in particular.

In third year there was a boy with dark brown hair and intelligent eyes who had caught Cassiopeia's attention the moment she had first seen him. It had not only been his looks but also his thirst for knowledge that had reminded her of the way Tom had once been.

When she had mentioned the boy, Ben, to the other teachers they had all been full of praise. But Ben wasn't the only one who was more skilled at magic than the others. There were also Livia and Max in fourth year, as well as Jonathan and Anna in fifth.

Cassiopeia knew that the tasks she set for the respective classes were not challenging these kids sufficiently. Yet she had already reached the limits of what was allowed to be taught at this school. The school instructions clearly prohibited teaching further knowledge to the children and Cassiopeia had decided to keep with the rules for once.

She was sitting in the staff room with Percival and Lance when she overheard a whispered conversation between the two of them. They were obviously arguing about something and Cassiopeia couldn't help but listen in.

"I told you, it's the three of them at maximum. The more they are the riskier it gets," Lance was hissing.

Cassiopeia couldn't hear what Percival replied but obviously he disagreed because Lance vehemently shook his head and hissed, "If you involve more of them you're risking to expose not only yourself but all of us. Just stop it."

This time Percival's reply was audible. "But they'd deserve some extra lessons as well..." His voice trailed away as he suddenly realized that Cassiopeia was watching them.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading, following, favouriting and reviewing! I'm always so happy to read what you think :)**

 **@Guest, who wondered about the point in her lying to Tom: I think the point is that without lying to him she wouldn't be able to keep on teaching which she wants to do. So as long as he doesn't find out the truth she can continue working at that school. And she's done everything she can to prevent him from finding out...**


	20. Chapter 20

Percival and Lance looked at Cassiopeia, anxiety painted on their faces, neither of them saying a word.

"What have you been talking about?" Cassiopeia decided to ask at last.

Percival pursed his lips. "Nothing important."

"You're teaching them extra lessons, aren't you?" Cassiopeia asked, ignoring his answer.

"That's illegal," Lance said flatly.

"I know," Cassiopeia said, cocking her head.

"We wouldn't do anything illegal, would we?" Percival gave a short, humourless laugh. "Not after what happened to Victor..." His voice trailed away.

"Who's Victor? What happened to him?" Cassiopeia heard herself asking, even though she had a feeling in her stomach that she'd rather not know.

Lance didn't meet her gaze. "He used to teach here. He was good and he was an idealist. He taught the students more than what was allowed." Lance paused. There was bitterness ringing in his tone when he continued. "Someone got to know about it and reported him to the government. He came home and...he saw it right away...they had been there."

Cassiopeia swallowed. "The mark?"

Lance nodded. "They had murdered his whole family and they were waiting for him. They tortured him but they didn't kill him. He returned here that night, and he was a wreck. He didn't want to go home because he couldn't get the images out of his head. All those bodies...they had been innocent children, for Merlin's sake." Lance's voice was hollow.

Cassiopeia felt like his words were choking her. Of course, she had known how Tom's Death Eaters enforced his rules. But it had always been so comfortingly abstract, no names, no faces. It had been surprisingly simple to drown out this harsh reality of Voldemort's world, making it rather easy to separate Tom from Lord Voldemort, pretending they weren't one and the same. And yet it had been nothing but a lie, designed for the sole purpose of easing her conscience.

"What happened to Victor?" she whispered at last.

"He couldn't stand it. He killed himself a few days later," Percival said tonelessly and eyed the table in front of him.

Cassiopeia swallowed again. She knew that this was only one of the many similar stories behind Tom's doings and it made her feel sick. How could she ever have fallen in love with a monster like this? How could his presence make her magic feel so indescribably whole and complete when he brought nothing but disaster and destruction on others? She knew there were far too many stories like Victor's linked to Tom, after all.

"I want to teach with you." Cassiopeia could tell that her words took Percival and Lance by surprise even though they tried to hide it.

"Victor's story clearly advises against this," Lance said cautiously.

"Actually it's because of Victor and his story that I feel we have to stand up against those unreasonable rules." Cassiopeia looked at them. "We have to make his sacrifice count. Fear mustn't win."

Percival and Lance exchanged a quick look. Then Percival nodded. "Alright. We may talk about this, but of course all hypothetically."

The ghost of a smile crossed Cassiopeia's face. "Of course."

x-x-x-x

It turned out there were four of them teaching a couple of students in additional lessons. Besides Lance and Percival also Melody and Felix participated. They had chosen the students carefully in order to keep the risk of being discovered at bay.

When Cassiopeia arrived for her first lesson Ben, Anna and Livia were already waiting, a look of excitement on their faces.

Ben cleared his throat. "We want to thank you, professor. We know you don't have to do this but we are very happy that you do."

"It's ok. Just try your best, that's the best way to say thanks." Cassiopeia smiled at them and started the lesson.

From then on they met every Thursday afternoon. The months passed and things were going rather well until one afternoon Livia arrived late.

When she closed the door behind her, she whispered, "I don't know but I had the impression that someone was following me. But whenever I turned around there was no one there. I took several detours and I hope I got rid of them..."

Cassiopeia looked alarmed. "Ok, but then we should take no risk. If anyone intruded on us you'd be all in great danger and I'd be in lots of trouble. We won't study today. I'll cast a disillusionment charm on each of you and you go back to your dorms. Be careful. We'll try again next week."

They nodded. Cassiopeia waved her wand at them and opened the door of the classroom, letting them out. When they had left, Cassiopeia went straight to the staff room. On her way there she paid close attention, trying to determine if there was anything out of the ordinary, but everything seemed as usual. Nevertheless, she informed Lance, Percival, Melody and Felix to be more careful than ever.

x-x-x-x

Tom was holding his usual Saturday Death Eater meeting. Black, Malfoy and Nott had been talking about the latest changes at the ministry for over an hour and Tom was starting to get bored.

"Anything else?" he asked, intending to end the meeting.

Rosier cleared his throat. "My lord?"

Tom raised an eyebrow, prompting him to continue.

"One of my informers told me he suspected there might be some irregularities at the Mudblood school."

"Irregularities?"

Rosier pursed his lips. "He didn't know any specifics..."

"Then you had better find out the details, don't you think?" Tom retorted, his eyebrow still quirked.

Rosier nodded.

"Take Lestrange with you," Tom ordered curtly. "And while we're at it...what did you find out about that blood traitor family in Manchester?"

Rosier and Lestrange exchanged a look. Then Lestrange said, "They keep consorting with Muggles. But nothing happened so far."

Tom eyed them sternly. "Then make sure they don't start tainting their blood. And remember, no unnecessary bloodshed of any magical blood."

His knights nodded.

Tom cast another look around. "If there's nothing else, we'll meet again in two weeks."

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading, reviewing, following, favouriting and just being as wonderful as you are!!**


	21. Chapter 21

Cassiopeia, Percival, Melody, Felix and Lance were gathered around the table in the staff room, discussing their progress with their three extra students when suddenly the door burst open and their gazes shot up.

Cassiopeia felt her heart sink. Five Ministry guards entered the room accompanied by Lestrange and Rosier. Cassiopeia and her colleagues had barely risen from their chairs when Lestrange pointed his wand at them and snarled, "Stop moving. You are arrested for treason." The next moment he waved his wand at them and their arms were yanked behind their backs, ropes binding their hands tightly.

With another wave of his wand Lestrange summoned their wands. Cassiopeia held her breath, hoping that Lestrange wouldn't recognize hers but to her utter relief he simply handed the five wands over to one of the guards who pocketed them. Then he sneered at the small group, "Now we shall get going."

He gestured at the guards and they moved forward, each approaching one of the group around Cassiopeia, rudely grabbing their upper arms and pulling them into the spinning darkness of side-along Apparition.

When they reappeared they were in a dimly lit corridor Cassiopeia didn't recognize. She assumed it was some basement floor of the Ministry. The guard who was still gripping her arm shoved her towards a heavy door that stood ajar. Then he pushed her into the windowless room behind it. She saw that her four colleagues were already gathered there and the door slammed shut behind her.

"What do you think they'll do to us?" Melody whimpered. "Will they kill us?"

Percival shot her a soothing glance. "No, I don't think so. Don't worry." His voice didn't sound very confident though.

Cassiopeia looked at Melody who didn't seem convinced at all. "I think Percival's right, Mel. If they had wanted to simply kill us, we'd be long dead by now." Cassiopeia pressed her lips together. Surely, if the mission had been to execute them, Lestrange wouldn't have taken the trouble to apparate them away first. After all, she knew him well enough to know he always made short work of his assignments. Still it certainly meant nothing good that he had brought them here. She didn't even want to think about all the other curses Lestrange and Rosier knew, one worse than the other.

Percival tried to struggle against the ropes that bound his hands on his back. "Damn, these bonds are tight. The more I move the tighter they get." He leaned against the wall and slid to the ground.

Suddenly the door creaked open again and Lestrange stepped inside, two guards at his heels. He threw a glance around the room before his eyes locked on Melody's whimpering form. "You," he spat, gesturing at her. "You are first."

Melody gasped and broke into tears, scrambling to her feet.

Cassiopeia bit her lip. Then she stepped forward. "She doesn't know anything."

Lestrange shot her a contemptuous glance and sneered, "You'd be surprised how much people tend to know after a few rounds of getting to know me."

Melody gasped again, tears streaming down her face.

Cassiopeia held Lestrange's gaze. "She only happened to be there by chance."

Lestrange looked back at her for another moment. Then he shrugged, a wicked smirk forming on his face. "Well, if you're so eager to keep her out of this, we'll start with you."

He snapped his fingers and each of the two guards grabbed one of Cassiopeia's arms, yanking her out of the room and down the corridor. At the end of the corridor a flight of stairs led downstairs to another corridor. The guards dragged her along the hallway until they stopped in front of a stone door. Lestrange opened the door with a wave of his wand and the guards pushed her inside, finally letting go of her arms and taking their position on either side of the door.

Cassiopeia cast a quick look around, taking in her surroundings. There was only one chair in the middle of the room. The stone walls and the door were clearly designed to mute any sound coming from inside this room. She swallowed. Nobody would hear what happened within these walls. She suppressed a bitter smirk. Not that anyone in this Ministry cared in the first place.

Lestrange shut the door and raised his wand, a smug look on his face. "I guess now you wish you hadn't taken her place."

Cassiopeia took a deep breath. "I want them to leave," she said firmly.

"What?" Lestrange cast her a surprised glance, lowering his wand a little.

Cassiopeia nodded at the two guards. "Send them away. Or are you worried you can't deal with me alone?"

Lestrange narrowed his eyes, pondering her words for a moment. Then he turned to the guards. "Get out," he ordered curtly.

When they didn't move, he repeated with slight irritation, "I said, get out."

The two men exchanged a look but obediently left the room. When the door closed behind them again, Lestrange smirked viciously. "So, now it's only the two of us."

Cassiopeia knew she had to try to play for time and make him free her hands if she didn't want to end up being tortured to hell. "If you want any answers, remove my bonds."

Lestrange laughed an unpleasant laugh. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"You've got a wand, I have none. Are you actually afraid I might be a danger to you?" Cassiopeia's voice was teasing and to her utter relief she noticed that she actually sounded confident even though she felt nothing like that. She knew Lestrange wasn't stupid but he was arrogant and conceited which would hopefully be sufficient.

Lestrange glowered at her for an instant but then he flicked his wand and the ropes disappeared. "If you don't have any more demands we should finally get started, don't you agree?" he drawled and again a vicious smirk marred his otherwise handsome features.

Raising his wand once again, he hissed, "Crucio."

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: I know it's kind of a cliffhanger... but otherwise the chapter would've gotten far too long... ;-) Thanks so much for reading! Curious to know what you think might happen next! Please vote and comment!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's note: So here we go...Let me know what you think!! I love your support! And as always...thanks so much for reading!**

x-x-x-x

Tom had been at his lair when he had suddenly felt that something was out of place. When he had branded Cassiopeia with his mark back in Albania all those years ago, that evening after he had killed Floris, he had combined the incantation with an enchantment that was supposed to alert him whenever she was in danger.

He could tell that the enchantment had been activated. Concentrating on the burning sensation inside of him, he tried to determine where she was. When he had a vague idea, he focused on her whereabouts and disapparated.

When he reappeared, he found himself on the lower floors of the Ministry. A frown crossed his features. Why should Cassiopeia be at the Ministry at all, and why here in particular? He shortly wondered if something was wrong with his enchantment but quickly dismissed the thought. There was no reason why the enchantment shouldn't be working correctly. He slowly strode along the corridor, intending to find out why Cassiopeia was supposed to be around. When he rounded the first corner, Rosier nearly ran into him.

Surprise was painted all over Rosier's face as he stammered, "My lord? What are you doing here?"

Tom's face remained the usual blank mask, although inside he was honestly wondering just the same. "I thought I had a look," he stated vaguely, hoping Rosier would give him a clue as to why he might be there.

"We only brought them here recently, those five teachers from the Mudblood school. Lestrange just started interrogating the first," Rosier reported.

"Where are they?" Tom tried to remember what had been up with those teachers and threw him an inquisitive look.

Rosier turned around and lead the way to one of the cells. Tom glanced through the barred hole in the door. There were three men inside and one woman who was lying on the floor, weeping disgustingly. Tom turned back to Rosier. "Who's with Lestrange?"

"A halfblood. O'Leary is her name."

"Downstairs?"

Rosier nodded and turned around to walk along the corridor and down the stairs that led to the lower floor, Tom following him. At the end of the corridor Rosier halted, throwing a confused glance at the two guards who were waiting in front of the door.

"Why aren't you in there?" he asked.

"Lestrange sent us outside," one of the guards answered deferentially, his eyes trained on the floor.

"Why would he do that?" Rosier's voice was disbelieving.

"The witch teased him saying he didn't dare to be alone with her and then he told us to get out," the second muttered.

Tom's patience ran out at last and he brandished his wand at the door. The heavy door burst open and the four men stared at Lestrange who whirled around just before the curse he had been channelling could hit its target, revealing the view of the witch standing at the opposite wall, her arm stretched out in front of her. For the fraction of a second they caught sight of the shield she had been trying to conjure before it died away.

Rosier was the first to react. He slashed his wand at Cassiopeia, binding her hands on her back again, and hissed at Lestrange, "What on earth have you been doing?"

Lestrange eyed them, surprise still visible on his features. "I...," he began but he was instantly cut short by Tom.

"Out. All of you," he spat. "I will deal with this now." Throwing a pointed glance at Lestrange, he added, "And I shall deal with you later."

The four men hurried out of the room. Tom slammed the door shut behind them and slowly walked into the room.

"O'Leary," he stated flatly, disdain ringing in his voice.

Cassiopeia stared back at him. His eyes were colder than she had ever seen them and they were completely empty, truly frighteningly so. Instinctively she backed away until she was stopped by the wall behind her.

"Why did you do this?" Tom asked, his voice icy.

Cassiopeia tried to struggle against the bonds Rosier had cast but the ropes only wound tighter, cutting painfully into her wrists. "We did nothing harmful," she whispered, "we only gave some extra lessons to three really gifted students..." Her voice trailed away.

Tom slowly walked closer until he was standing right in front of her. "I'm not talking about some meaningless extra lessons," he hissed menacingly, his voice deadly. "I am talking about...this." He gestured at her appearance.

Cassiopeia swallowed as realization hit her and she felt her blood leaving her face. He knew it. He knew it was her.

"I thought I had made myself clear on the subject of teaching or rather not teaching Mudbloods," Tom snarled, cold fury finally marring his features. "I hate being ignored, I hate being disobeyed and most of all I hate being betrayed." His gaze bore into hers.

Cassiopeia stared back at him. She sensed the unlimited rage inside him and the savage vibration of his magic and suddenly she was scared stiff. She could tell from the look in his eyes that this time she was finally in for a taste of his curses. She desperately struggled against Rosier's ropes once again. If only she could free her hands, then she might at least be able to try to defend herself, though she suspected that she wouldn't stand much of a chance anyways, without her wand and against him. But the ropes only cut deeper into her flesh. Rosier had definitely known what he was doing.

Tom noticed her struggling and a sneer appeared on his face. "It surely serves you right," he hissed. "But I admit it takes all the fun out of fighting if you cannot even try to block me." With a flick of his wand the ropes disappeared.

Cassiopeia's gaze darted at her bleeding wrists and then back at Tom who had taken a few steps back.

He had raised his wand again, and with a quick movement he shot a curse at her, his eyes narrowed. Cassiopeia stared at the approaching curse and desperately willed her magic to respond without being channelled through her wand. She felt her magic react and managed to deflect his attack.

"I didn't betray you," she hissed.

Tom's face remained a blank mask. "Go on, I'm really curious to listen to your explanation," he spat.

Cassiopeia glared back at him. "I'm not your possession. You've got no right to rule over me and you had no right to prevent me from teaching children again. Nothing compares to seeing their eyes light up when they learn how to control this wonderful force inside of them. A long time ago even you used to have that light inside your eyes, I remember. It's a shame you forgot."

Tom slashed his wand at her again. "I hope seeing that light was worth the pain."

Cassiopeia pressed her lips together and produced a shield just in time. Tom's curse crashed noisily into it.

"Quite an impressive wandless performance, I'll give you that." Tom sneered, hurling another curse at her. This time she wasn't able to block it but she ducked and the curse soared over her head.

Cassiopeia glowered at him. "What are you aiming at? Why do you keep casting these half-hearted curses? Why do you even give me a chance to block them? Do you enjoy it that much, watching my fear? Why don't you get it over with at last, you've surely been longing for that ever since you stepped into this room."

Tom clenched his jaw. She was right. When he had entered the room he had been determined to curse this disgusting disobedience out of her once and for all. His fury had vehemently called for the Cruciatus Curse. But the longer he had been in the room, the longer he had sensed her fear and witnessed her pain the more he had hurt himself. His fury had remained unchanged but his resolve to cause her this ultimate agony had wavered severely and he knew he finally lacked an essential requirement to make the Cruciatus Curse work because he didn't truly want it to cause pain anymore.

He didn't reply. Instead he wordlessly hurled another curse at her, somehow expecting her to sidestep it. But even though it was aimed badly, this time it hit.

Cassiopeia bent over and winced, a throbbing pain extending over the left side of her stomach. She fell to her knees. Locks of curly black hair fell into her sight and suddenly she realized that all the changes she had made to her appearance were still in place. Fiercely willing her magic to undo the changes, she felt her appearance turn back to normal. When she looked back up at Tom, she saw the faintest trace of emotion buried very deep down inside his eyes. With a bitter smirk she hissed, "If you want to punish me you should at least be looking at me, you should be throwing your curses at me, not at someone you've never seen before, don't you think?"

She gazed at her stomach. The spot where Tom's curse had entered her body was aching badly and she started feeling slightly dizzy. Her shirt was turning red and she realized that she was bleeding. She carefully pulled up her shirt and eyed the deep cut, her mind strangely empty. Blood was leaving the wound. She touched it with her hand and watched it run down her body while her mind was trying to process what it was seeing. She needed to stop the bleeding but she didn't have a wand. She needed to press something onto the wound...

Suddenly her hand was shoved away. "Let me see." Tom's still harsh voice tore the silence.

Cassiopeia looked up. Tom was crouching in front of her. His eyes were trained on the wound he had caused with his curse. He raised his wand again and, involuntarily, Cassiopeia flinched. Tom quirked his eyebrows and hissed, "Don't move."

Cassiopeia watched him brandishing his wand in a complicated pattern for what seemed an eternity until the pain subsided and the bleeding finally stopped. Then she looked back at her skin, her mind still unusually empty. Tom had healed the cut and he had cast the countercurse to his original curse, stopping the damage the curse had been causing inside.

But all of this did not change what had happened.

It did not change that he had attacked her. It did not change that he had deliberately harmed her. And it did not change that he had wilfully hurt her.

Still looking at the healed cut she realized that her cheeks were wet with tears that were leaving her eyes. She quickly wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and turned away. She definitely didn't want Tom to see how much he had succeeded in making her heart hurt. How he had succeeded in making something break inside her.

Heavy silence fell on the room.

Finally Tom spoke. "I'll take you home." His voice was hoarse.

Cassiopeia didn't look at him. "I want my wand back."

Tom swallowed. Then he nodded. "I'll get it." With a crack he disapparated, returning a few minutes later, her wand in his hand.

Cassiopeia took the wand from him, not meeting his gaze.

He held out his arm for her. When she didn't take it, he clenched his teeth. "If you want to leave you'll have to apparate with me cause I'm the only one who can do it down here."

Cassiopeia looked at Tom's still outstretched arm and finally grabbed it wordlessly. He apparated them away and to the front door of Houlton Manor.

Cassiopeia immediately let go of his arm. Remembering her four colleagues, she turned to Tom. "Let the others go. They did nothing wrong and nothing harmful."

Tom furrowed his brows. "I'll think about it."

Cassiopeia eyed him for a moment, her mind strangely detached. Then she opened the door and stepped inside. She sensed that Tom still stood there, behind her, waiting. She exhaled slowly and turned around again. When their eyes met, she caught a glimpse of something that looked like uncertainty but it was gone the next moment.

She held his gaze and pursed her lips. Her voice was toneless when she said, "There's only so much I can take, Tom." She felt tears building up in her eyes but she determinedly bit them back. "I'm done with your obsessive need for control. It's up to me to decide what to do with my life, not up to you, and I'll be going back to work on Monday." Swallowing the lump in her throat, she continued, her voice thick, "If you can't accept that you don't have to return."


	23. Chapter 23

Tom stared at the closed door before him, his mind blank.

She hadn't actually said this, had she? He couldn't believe it. After all, there was no way of just breaking up with him. This wasn't some kind of relationship that could simply go wrong. This was different and had always been. She had always been with him, she had always stayed, no matter what he had done. There was nothing that drove her away. There was nothing that could deter this. She was his. That wasn't something she could just end.

Yet, no matter how hard he tried to drown the thought out, he knew he was lying to himself. Of course there had been something between them that could break, something that could be destroyed, something that could end.

'You don't have to return.'

Her words kept echoing in his ears, and he tried to grasp why they were hurting. He shook his head. He wasn't supposed to feel anything like that. Her words weren't supposed to have any impact on him. They weren't supposed to hurt. She had been the one to let him down, she had defied him, she had wilfully disobeyed him. He had had every right to be furious. He had had every right to pay her back with his curses. She should have known what was going to happen once he found out about this little secret of hers. She had been the one doing him wrong. He should have been the one telling her to leave if she couldn't accept his orders.

Yet, unfortunately, there was no denying thathe didn't want her to leave. He didn't want this to be the end.

'I'm done with your obsessive need for control. If you can't accept that you don't have to return.'

He clenched his jaw. He had always been that way. She should definitely have gotten used to it by now. That was who he was. That was how he was. He wasn't going to change. He wasn't going to be someone else, not even for her.

But her words kept repeating themselves in his mind over and over again, and they stung worse every damn time.

Suddenly he felt dauntingly empty. He clenched his jaw even harder. It was just like that moment when she had confronted him with the thought that she might be Muggle-born. He had certainly wanted to never feel that way again. He had sworn himself to never let this happen again.

And yet, here he was.

He balled his hands into fists. If it hadn't been for this inexplicable force that was constantly pulsing through his veins, this would have been the perfect proof that he had been right from the very beginning. Emotions were weakness. How could he ever have given her the chance to gain so much control over him? How could he ever have allowed to let her have the power to make him hurt?

Because that was what she had done...make him hurt. The thought of not returning hurt. The thought of never holding her in his arms again hurt. Strangely enough, even the thought that it was him who was responsible for this mess hurt.

He knew he had tried to deny it but being with her had always made him feel unbelievably alive. It had always made him feel warm and content. When he had been with her he had been able to feel that she really cared for him. He had been able to feel...at all.

Those had been the times when this hatred that was reigning inside of him had been buried somewhere deep down, when it had not been able to dominate his thoughts and had not been able to possess him. Those had been the times when he had sensed the power of his magic the most, when it had felt the strongest, when he had known it was indestructable and invincible.

This feeling had been unparalleled, it had been so addictive and, time after time, it had kept him coming back for more.

He turned away. He knew she wasn't going to open the door again if he stayed. He had seen it in her eyes, they had told him more than he had wanted to know.

And there was no denying that he had enough business to attend to anyways. She had made it unmistakably clear that she wasn't going to give up teaching at that godforsaken school and he was very much aware that he wasn't able to stop her if he didn't want to lose her for good.

But before she returned to that school unharmed and continued just as before he had to take care of Lestrange, Rosier, the guards and the rest of those teachers. He obviously couldn't explain what had happened so he had to erase their memories. He suppressed a sigh and apparated back to the ministry.

Fortunately, it didn't take him long to find Rosier and Lestrange.

"My lord," Rosier said the moment he saw him. "We were already wondering how things were going..." His voice trailed off when he saw the look on Tom's face.

"Get the guards who accompanied you today," Tom ordered without paying attention to Rosier. When Rosier and Lestrange made to leave, he narrowed his eyes. "You stay," he hissed, gesturing at Lestrange.

Lestrange flinched just the slightest bit but he turned back to Tom and lowered his head. "About earlier...I'm very sorry, my lord, I don't know what got into me. I promise anything like that won't happen ever again."

Tom shot him a disdainful glare and waited until Rosier was out of earshot. Then he said, "You're very right. Something like today should never happen again. However, it seems like today's an extremely lucky day for you because there's no use in my teaching you a lesson which I'm unfortunately forced to make you forget again right away. I can assure you next time you won't be that lucky." He exhaled sharply and raised his wand. Lestrange winced at the movement and Tom sneered for a second before he flicked his wand and hissed, "Obliviate."

When Rosier returned with the five guards, Tom was standing alone in the room, his wand still in his hand and Lestrange nowhere to be seen. Rosier pressed his lips together and eyed Tom cautiously. "These are the guards that have been with us today, my lord."

Tom nodded and brandished his wand with a swift movement at the guards, stunning them. Rosier's eyes grew wide with surprise but before he had the time to say anything Tom had waved his wand at him as well.

A moment later Tom had obliviated Rosier, replacing his memory with the story he had made up. He turned towards the guards and altered their memories as well. Finally he strode along the corridor to the cell where the four teachers were still imprisoned. Tom was about to open the door when he heard them talking inside. Without thinking he leaned closer to the door and listened in.

"What do you think they did to her? Why isn't she coming back?" The woman's voice was thick with tears.

"She's strong, I bet she's giving them a hard time," one of the men said but he didn't sound very confident despite his words.

"I shouldn't have let her take my place," the woman whimpered again.

"Don't blame yourself," another muttered. "She knew what she was doing."

Tom clenched his teeth and threw the door open with a flick of his wand. Four pairs of eyes stared back at him, fear evident on every face. When they recognized him, he saw them shrink back even further, and he couldn't suppress a smirk.

"I guess you know who I am," he sneered, "if I interpret your expressions correctly."

"Where's Cynthia?" one of the men breathed, his voice full of worry. "What did you do to her?"

Tom looked back at the man, his face expressionless. Who did this fool think he was? It was none of his business what was happening between him and Cassiopeia. And if anything the question was rather what she had done to him. But his features remained even when he asked back, "Why do you care where she is?"

The man, who had asked, replied, his voice determined, "Cynthia's our friend. She didn't do this alone. She shouldn't be alone now."

Tom eyed him for a moment. Then he shrugged. "She's not coming back." He saw the four of them gasp and slightly raised an eyebrow. "She never existed anyways." His voice sounded surprisingly bitter, and he raised his wand.

"Please don't do this," the woman pleaded, her voice trembling.

Tom eyed her for a moment, quirking an eyebrow. "You don't even know what I'm going to do." He twirled his wand in his fingers. "And as it is...it turns out that, just like for this brainless knight of mine, today seems to be your lucky day, too, because you're going to survive this." He paused. "Sadly you won't remember but you owe your life to her. If it wasn't for her, I certainly would never be doing this." He looked back at them, and a smirk appeared on his features when he saw the look of utter confusion on their faces. With a swift movement he brandished his wand, making their eyes glaze over. His smirk widened just the slightest bit as he flicked his wand again, muttering under his breath.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading! You are so great!**


	24. Chapter 24

Cassiopeia closed the curtains of her bedroom and went to the bathroom to get ready for the night. While she was changing, her thoughts kept whirling inside her mind. Only two days had passed since this afternoon that had turned her life upside down but somehow these two days felt like a lifetime.

When she returned to her bedroom, she involuntarily remembered the many nights Tom had come sneaking into her room. His intentions had rarely been pure and noble but the powerful aura of his magic had always made up for his lack of emotion and she had never had any regrets. She had always sensed that they belonged together, their magics matching up in a way that was unique.

Ever since she had closed this door between them, her world had crumbled to pieces. Yet she had not even been able to cry. She only felt empty. Empty and sad.

She was about to go to bed when there was a knock on the front door. A frown crossed Cassiopeia's face. It was already after eleven o'clock and hardly the time for uninvited visitors. She grabbed her dressing gown and her wand and went downstairs, throwing on the dressing gown as she went.

The house elf was hovering in the hall. "Does miss want Dissy to open the door? Dissy was not sure."

"It's ok, Dissy. I'll check who it is."

The house elf nodded and disapparated with a loud crack.

There was another knock on the door. Cassiopeia raised her wand and carefully opened the door. A look of surprise crossed her face when she saw Tom standing in front of the door.

She let her wand sink to her side. He was about the last person she had been expecting.

He hadn't used the front door in years, to start with. Actually, she couldn't even remember when he had last waited for someone to open the door. Ever since he had been able to apparate through the protective wards of the manor, he had done it, never wasting much thought or time, always going straight where he wanted.

Besides, quite obviously, their last interaction had not ended very well.

She had known that Tom would be beyond furious once he realized she had been leading a secret double life for almost a year. She had feared that he wouldn't be able to control his rage, and yet, she had harboured the foolish hope that he would somehow restrain himself and refrain from hurting her. After all, he had even risked his own bloody existence to safe her from getting hit by his rebounding Killing Curse at the end of his duel with Dumbledore.

That day there had to have been something inside of him, something that was still human, something that had been able to care.

Ever since that day she had kept hoping that, perhaps, this something might grow stronger, that it might be able to displace the complete emotional void inside of Tom.

Yet his reaction at the Ministry had mercilessly shattered this illusion, making it obvious that she had been stupid to believe anything could ever change who Tom was at the core.

Clearly, it hadn't given him a hard time at all to throw all those curses at her.

Clearly, if he even cared at all, he definitely didn't care enough.

And then it had finally clicked.

There had never been any grey with Tom, and there would never be, there was only black or white. He could cope with people who obeyed him and he hurt people who didn't. He didn't make any exceptions.

She had known that if she didn't bail out now she would never get away from him, he would hurt her again and again until he would destroy her eventually. If she let him get away with this now, he would never stop.

It had hurt, telling him to not return. It had hurt because she had known how much she would miss him, and because she had been painfully aware that he would certainly be neither willing nor capable to stop trying to oppress and control her.

And yet she had known that she had no choice if she wanted to save herself.

And now he was standing there, waiting in front of the door, and all the emotions Cassiopeia had successfully tried to suppress for the past days threatened to flood her. Why had he returned? She stared at Tom, trying to figure out his intentions. He was looking back at her with an expression she couldn't quite place. She exhaled slowly. "I didn't expect to see you again," she stated flatly.

His expression didn't change but his voice was hoarse when he replied, "I know. And yet, I'm here."

"You're here," she repeated tonelessly and eyed him warily. Then she stepped aside and he entered the manor, closing the door behind him. They were standing only a few feet away from each other and yet it felt like they were miles apart.

Silence fell on the hall. Tom shifted his weight slightly uncomfortably. He kept looking back at her, his eyes searching hers, his unusual behaviour starting to unnerve Cassiopeia.

When she thought she couldn't bear it much longer, Tom finally cleared his throat. "I've been thinking a lot about what you said...about my need for control...and about..." He pursed his lips. "...us."

Cassiopeia didn't reply. She could tell that talking about this cost him an unusual lot of strength. She suppressed a sigh. If it hadn't been so terribly sad, it might actually have been some kind of funny that he could easily cast the Killing Curse without even blinking while it gave him such a hard time admitting that despite everything he had done he might not yet have lost the last bit of his humanity.

After a moment Tom continued, "I won't say I'm sorry for what I did. But...I promise I won't do it again."

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?" Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow. "Give me one reason why you wouldn't do it again."

Tom stared back at her, his jaw clenching just the slightest bit. "Isn't that somehow obvious?"

"No, it's not." Cassiopeia shook her head. "Actually I don't believe you would react any differently now if we were in the same situation again. I saw this fury in your eyes. All you wanted was make me pay for what I had done. That's exactly how you always react whenever things don't go the way you want them to. Only this time you were facing me. Yet, obviously, that didn't change anything."

"That's not true," Tom said through clenched teeth.

"Of course it is. You cursed me, Tom. You threw four bloody curses at me, without wavering once."

"You blocked them, and you should have been able to avoid the last one as well. I didn't even aim well," Tom huffed.

"Oh, so it's ok to vent your anger by throwing curses at me as long as I'm able to avoid being hit? Now it's my fault I didn't manage to get out of the way of your curse?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you thought it."

Tom pressed his lips together and didn't reply. For a moment they stood there staring at each other. Then Tom said, "You are different, and you know it. If it hadn't been you, I would have needed only one curse to get all the revenge I wanted, and I would have been able to cast it." He held her gaze and Cassiopeia could tell that he meant what he was saying. So that was the answer to why he hadn't cast his infamous Cruciatus Curse, even though he had longed so much for it. He had sensed that the curse wouldn't work.

Cassiopeia eyed him wordlessly. Somehow his words reignited a weak spark of this feeling she had thought to be long dead. Maybe there was still hope.

When she remained silent, Tom cleared his throat again. "I came to tell you something before you return to...that school."

Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows and threw him a sceptical glance. "And what would that be?"

"When you go there, go without changing your appearance."

Cassiopeia eyed him, her face expressionless. "Obviously you know I can't because thanks to you it's not me working there."

Tom cocked his head a little. "Now it is."

Cassiopeia's eyes narrowed. The familiar smirk spread across Tom's face when he saw the look of confusion in her eyes. He exhaled slowly. "If teaching these children is so important to you, it should be you who is teaching there, not someone who doesn't even exist, don't you think?"

"But..." Cassiopeia kept looking at him, trying to search his eyes. This wasn't possible, was it? He would have needed to change the memories of countless people to achieve that. He couldn't have, he wouldn't have done that, would he? "Did you...?"

Tom looked back at her, his eyes holding her gaze, and suddenly a strange sincerity shining in them. "Yes, I did. I changed the memory of every single person who ever got to know this character you invented. And I can tell you there were a lot. So it took me an immense amount of charms and curses but, fortunately, I've always liked challenges and..."

"That's...insane," Cassiopeia interjected.

Tom looked away, his lips twitching slightly. "You're probably right, it probably is insane." He paused and pursed his lips. "But consider it the one reason you wanted why I wouldn't curse you again."

Cassiopeia tried to grasp what he was saying. He had replaced the memories of dozens of people in order to erase the existence of Cynthia O'Leary. Now she didn't have to pretend anymore. She didn't have to act anymore. She could just be herself. The ghost of a smile crossed her face.

Suddenly a thought came to her mind. "What about these ridiculous teaching restrictions?"

Tom pursed his lips. "I don't think they are ridiculous. They are our insurance that Mudbloods don't get too powerful."

"They are not much of an insurance, though. If you deny people the possibility to broaden their knowledge, they will do it secretly, illegally. They will get the knowledge they crave for eventually but they will feel hatred for those who tried to prevent it. With this strategy of yours you are just driving them to oppose you."

"Obviously you would know that, wouldn't you?" he replied drily.

"Obviously I would," she retorted.

"So what's your advice?" He leaned back against the wall next to the door, crossing his arms.

"Don't make any restrictions. Let them learn and study like the students at Hogwarts."

Tom looked back at her, considering her suggestion. Finally he shrugged. "It's the Ministry's decision whether they want to change those rules."

Cassiopeia cocked her head. "They do whatever you want them to. If you tell them to change the law, they'll do it, if you tell them to keep it, they'll keep it."

A smirk appeared on Tom's features. "That's a great world, isn't it?"

"If you make the right decisions, it surely is," Cassiopeia said drily.

Tom eyed her for a moment. Then he pushed away from the wall. "I'll think about it."

There was a moment of silence. Then Cassiopeia wrapped her dressing gown closer around herself and said, "It's late and I have to get up early. You better leave now."

The hall was silent again. Tom gazed wordlessly back at her. Finally he nodded. "Good night then." He opened the door.

"Good night." Cassiopeia watched as Tom stepped outside and walked along the path that led through the front yard. After a few paces Tom looked over his shoulder, and their eyes locked for a brief moment before he continued his way to the gates.

"Are you going to return again?" Cassiopeia asked quietly into the night.

Tom halted and a smile crossed his face before he looked back at her once again. "I think you know the answer."

Then he turned on the spot and disapparated.

 **x-x-x-x** **Author's note: I can't remember rewriting and changing any other chapter as often as this one while writing it. I always had the impression that Tom was too ooc and I had a really hard time trying to fix this. I'm not completely convinced I succeeded but I hope he's still sufficiently in character. Thanks for reading!!**


	25. Chapter 25

The next morning Cassiopeia entered the staff room of the School for Muggle-born Witchcraft and Wizardry with a feeling of anxiety. The last time she had been here things hadn't turned out very pleasantly. She remembered Lestrange's burly form towering threateningly in the doorway, Rosier, slightly slimmer but yet no less intimidating, following close behind. She quickly shook her head, trying to get the unsettling image out of her head and concentrated on the present.

The room was almost empty. Only Percival was sitting at the table, a cup of tea in his hand and the Daily Prophet on the table in front of him. When she entered the room, he glanced up from the newspaper and a smile crossed his features.

"Morning," he greeted. "How was your weekend?"

"Morning," Cassiopeia replied, pouring herself a cup of coffee and taking a sip. "Oh, well, my weekend wasn't quite the way I had planned. It was packed with surprises. But it surely could have been even worse. What about yours?" She eyed him closely.

Percival looked back at her. "Mine was rather uneventful. I mainly prepared classes, nothing too exciting. But I had this unbelievable inspiration for a potions test I'm going to try today."

Cassiopeia's lip twitched slightly. That sounded just like Tom. He had always had a talent for planting false memories, and he had always liked tampering with other people's minds. She could still recall the satisfied grin on his face, that morning in Slughorn's double Potions so long ago, when he had altered the memories of Yaxley, Nott and Malfoy.

Obviously, he had taken the chance to play his little game again.

Refocusing on Percival, she said, "Sounds great." After a momemt she asked, following on a sudden impulse, "Are you teaching Ben, Anna and Livia today?"

Percival threw her a confused glance. "Why the three of them? Obviously, I'm teaching their respective classes, though not the fourth years today." He looked at his timetable. "Fourth year tomorrow." He gazed up again. "Why?"

Cassiopeia shook her head. "Never mind. Just asking."

She sat down as well and drank her coffee in silence. If she were honest, it wasn't unexpected that Tom had taken the opportunity to end their extra lessons quite unceremoniously. After all, that was exactly what had been the purpose of Lestrange's and Rosier's mission, even if it wasn't the way they had had intended to take, of course.

"There have been several arrests and disappearances again." Percival's voice broke the silence. He kept his gaze on the Daily Prophet, reading the headlines. "People are so stupid."

Cassiopeia eyed him wordlessly. Tom had really made a good job of it.

She snorted lowly, pressing her lips together. Of course he had. Why did he always have to do everything so damn perfectly? It was frustrating.

Finally, Cassiopeia got up. "I have to get going. See you later."

Percival nodded without looking up. "See you."

Still feeling slightly annoyed, Cassiopeia went to her classroom. She had Ben's class first. The students were already waiting in front of the door. When they filed into the room, Cassiopeia scanned the faces for Ben but he wasn't there. The students took their seats and turned to look at her expectantly.

"Good morning. I hope you are all well," Cassiopeia said, rearranging some sheets of parchment on the desk.

"Good morning, professor," the class replied in unison.

"Where's Ben?" Cassiopeia tried to keep her voice calm despite the gloomy sense of foreboding in her stomach.

A girl in the second row got up. "He didn't feel well, professor. I heard the matron had to send him to the hospital."

"Thank you, Stella." Cassiopeia forced a smile on her face although she didn't feel like smiling at all.

So this was how Tom was going to pay her back. She exhaled, trying to stay calm. She had anticipated that he wouldn't just leave well enough alone. After all, it was Tom. He never yielded. He might not have been able to cast the Cruciatus Curse on her but that didn't mean he wasn't just as proficient in a lot of far more refined ways of cruelty. And he had known exactly how to get back at her.

While she set the class the task for today's lesson, her thoughts kept revolving around Ben. What had Tom done to the poor boy? And why him of all people? It simply wasn't fair, making the boy pay for her decisions. But then again, when had Tom ever cared about fairness?

The morning of classes seemed to drag on endlessly. When Cassiopeia finally ended the last lesson, she hurried to the matron. Upon entering the office, the matron threw her a surprised glance.

"Professor Houlton. How can I help you?"

"Madam McLarn. I was wondering if you could tell me where Ben Miller is? He wasn't in class."

A look of concern appeared on the matron's face. "Oh, Ben, the poor boy. I had to take him to the hospital. He was hurting so badly and I couldn't detect anything. I've never seen anything similar." She shook her head, a haunted look in her eyes. "I really hope it's nothing contagious. I absolutely don't want to see any other students suffer the same."

Cassiopeia nodded absentmindedly. "Thanks."

She left the matron's office and without thinking twice she apparated to St. Mungo's. At the reception she asked for Ben Miller and was sent to the ward on the fourth floor. When she got there, the corridor was empty. Cassiopeiastrode along the hallway, looking for a healer, until she finally found a woman in her late fifties.

"Excuse me. I came to see one of your patients, Ben Miller. He's a student of mine." Her voice trailed away as she saw the expression on the elderly witch's face.

"Ben, yes. He's in the room over there. But I'm afraid he's in no good condition. We have been trying everything we could think of, but obviously he has come in contact with something really rare. We haven't been able to help him so far, so now we've given him some really strong pain relievers. I don't think it's of much use, visiting him."

Cassiopeia bit her lip. "The boy has no family to look after him. Please, couldn't you just let me see him, if only for a moment?"

The healer shrugged. "If you want to see him, I don't mind. We've had the contagion specialists in and they say whatever it is he suffers from, it's at least not contagious. So you can go and see him if you like."

Cassiopeia nodded and the healer hurried on, leaving her standing alone in the corridor. Cassiopeia carefully opened the door to Ben's room. It was dimly lit and she could see the boy's sleeping form in the bed close to the window. She noiselessly closed the door behind her and walked over to him.

He was sleeping but it was obvious that he was still in pain. He was breathing hard and his forehead was sweaty. His fingers were twitching restlessly in his sleep.

Cassiopeia moved closer and lightly brushed his dark brown hair out of his pale face, wondering if Tom had seen anything when he had looked at the boy's features. Why had he chosen him and left Livia and Anna unharmed? After all, they had all been taught extra lessons, and he surely had known that. Yet he had only gone for the boy.

While Cassiopeia kept looking at Ben, his eyes suddenly fluttered open.

"Professor," he breathed hoarsely, his voice pained.

"Shhh, I'm with you."

"Am I dying?" he asked weakly, fear evident in his tone. "Nobody seems to know what happened to me. And I don't know either." He coughed, gasping for air.

Cassiopeia swallowed. "No, you aren't going to die. I will find a way to help you." She tried to sound soothing.

Ben looked at her, his pain showing in his eyes. "But how? I have never seen so many healers in my life and yet they can't help me."

"I know." Cassiopeia pressed her lips together and tried to keep her rising temper in check. At least, contrary to the healers she knew how Ben had ended up being in this state. She knew who was responsible but, unfortunately, she couldn't tell anyone.

She glanced at Ben's trembling hands and his scared eyes and took a deep breath. This time Tom had taken it too far. She wondered what he had been aiming at. Was he expecting her to come crawling back to him, begging him to save Ben's life?

She clenched her teeth. That wasn't going to happen. She didn't need him. She would figure out how to help Ben on her own. She tried to suppress the wave of panic that was involuntarily sweeping through her when she thought about the countless Dark Curses Tom knew, making it nearly impossible to determine which one he had used.

Yet she had to do something, and she had to do it quickly. She drew her wand. "I'm going to help you, Ben. But I have to know what happened to you. Will you help me?"

Ben nodded. "But I don't remember anything."

"Just focus on the last memory you have, the last one before the pain started, can you try that?"

He nodded again. Cassiopeia gripped her wand firmly. In order to find out what Tom had done to the boy, she had to get past Tom's memory charm, trying to uncover the real memory or at least fragments thereof, hidden somewhere underneath the fake story. She pursed her lips. Tom's charm would doubtlessly be extremely well done and certainly nearly impossible to circumvent. Yet she had to focus on the possibility that she could achieve this against all odds if she wanted to help Ben.

"Ok. Then concentrate on this last memory." She brandished her wand with a slow fluid movement and muttered, "Memoriam deponere, memoriam prodere." Cassiopeia watched Ben closely and kept brandishing her wand, repeating the murmured incantation over and over again. Slowly she felt something change in Ben's eyes. Cassiopeia tightened her grip on her wand once again, carefully pouring more of her magic into the curse until she sensed that Ben couldn't take anymore.

With a swift movement she flicked her wand at his head and carefully removed a silvery strand of memory, stowing it in a small vial.

Ben looked exhausted. "I'm sorry, professor, I'm of no help."

Cassiopeia gently touched the boy's arm. "On the contrary. You've been doing this very well. Don't worry, we'll get you back on your feet again," she said soothingly and his lips twitched into a small smile in response.

"Thank you, professor. Thank you so much for caring."

"Now you have to rest, you're too exhausted. I'll figure out what happened to you and then I'll be back, I promise." Cassiopeia squeezed his hand lightly and waved her wand at him once again, silently casting a curse on him that would prevent him from waking before she returned.

She exhaled slowly, watching his unconscious form sadly. So it had finally happened. After all those years she finally hadn't been able to avoid using curses belonging to the Dark Arts intentionally on another human being any longer. A bitter smirk formed on her face. Surely, Tom would be proud that he had finally succeeded in making her stoop so low.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks so much for reading! I'd love if you left a review :-)**


	26. Chapter 26

When Cassiopeia returned to Houlton Manor, she went straight to her mother's study. The last time she had been there, she had seen a Pensieve on one of the shelves. She suppressed the slightly creepy feeling the room still caused her and retrieved the Pensieve, placing it on her mother's desk. Sitting down, she took the vial from her pocket and eyed it for a moment before she poured its content into the Pensieve. Then she lowered her head until her face touched the surface and she was pulled into Ben's memory.

 _Ben was lying in his bed in the boys' dormitory, his blanket drawn over his head, a book next to him and his wand in his hand, lighting the pages. Suddenly he heard a low noise. He removed the blanket from his head just in time to see a tall figure with black robes and a hood standing in the doorway. He had barely time to see the wand in the intruder's hand before everything went black._

 _When he regained consciousness he was lying on his back. The man in black robes was towering over him. He had his hood still in place but Ben could see parts of his face in the dim moonlight that was illuminating the room. He was staring down at him, his wand pointed at him, his eyes blazing menacingly. From the corners of his eyes Ben saw that the other boys were still stunned. He focused on the man again while fumbling for his wand._

 _"Are you looking for this?" The man held up his wand with his left hand, never lowering his own wand, a mocking sneer on his face. "Don't worry, you won't be needing it."_

 _Ben felt a wave of panic sweeping through him. They had found out about the lessons. They were going to take his wand and exclude him from the magical world, never allowing him to use magic ever again. Maybe they were even going to kill him._

 _"That's not quite what I've been intending but it's actually a great idea. You'd definitely deserve it." The icy coldness of the voice was sending shivers down Ben's spine. He gasped. The hooded man was reading his mind as if it were an open book. He had to protect the others. He had to stop thinking. He had to concentrate on something else, something unimportant._

 _A wicked smirk spread across the man's face. "That's not quite how it works, sorry. But don't blame yourself, you wouldn't be able to fight me off anyways. As it is there are only very, very few people who I'd reckon to have a chance at blocking me out." His lips twitched a little and his eyes travelled over Ben's features. "Well,_ Ben _," he said, stressing his name contemptuously, "I think I can see why she's granted you the privilege to expand your knowledge of magic. But," he paused, shaking his head in a mocking way, "I don't think I'm happy with her choice. Yet, you wanted to know more about magic, so what about me teaching you a little? You see, I know quite a lot about magic, lots of great curses..." His voice was cold and chilling. "Let's see if I'm able to teach you something, shall we?"_

 _Ben eyed him, his expression panic-stricken. Who was this man? How could anyone be so horribly terrifying? And obviously crazy and deadly dangerous._

 _He watched a smile form on the man's face._ _"You think I'm crazy? I don't know about that. But you surely are right with the rest. And as for who I am...maybe you've seen a picture of me? There aren't a lot around but the few that are out there are surprisingly hard to ban." He shoved his hood slightly back and the moonlight fell on his features._

 _Ben gasped. "You're him," he breathed. "You're V...Vo...him."_

 _The man smirked maliciously, marring his handsome features and turning them into an ugly mask of cruelty. He twirled his wand in his hand once before pointing it back at Ben. "You got it, I'm_ him _. So let's start with a little lesson on defying my rules. First of all, and for many most importantly,_ disobedience causes pain _." He sneered, narrowing his eyes the tiniest bit. "Crucio."_

 _Pain beyond anything Ben had ever known shot through his body, making him instantly scream at the top of his lungs, but no sound left his mouth. His body was twitching uncontrollably and his mind was filled with nothing but the excruciating agony the curse was causing him._

 _Finally, Voldemort lowered his wand, his face blank. Ben gasped for air. Voldemort looked back at him and yet it felt like he was somehow looking through him when he said, his voice toneless, "_ That's _what pain feels like, just so you know."_

 _Ben coughed, trying to breathe, but again no noise came out. Unconsciously he touched his throat with his hand._

 _Raising an eyebrow, Voldemort said, "Oh, don't worry, your voice is alright. I just muted you. No need to disturb anyone with our little interaction. Besides, there's obviously no need for you talking anyways, your thoughts being that plain to see." He cocked his head. "So let's get on with our lesson. Second, beware of the infinite freedom inherent in the lack of conscience." He brandished his wand and a dark red light hit Ben in the stomach. "I don't care what happens to anyone and that makes cursing people ridiculously easy. It's probably way harder, trying to save them." He flicked his wand once again. This time a shining blue light erupted from the wand and hit Ben straight in the chest. "And third, whoever leads you into temptation will pay for it."_

 _Ben stared at Voldemort and again he had the impression that Voldemort was looking right through him. Yet the yellowish curse that left Voldemort's wand was plainly directed at him and again he could do nothing to avoid it. His body was aching badly where the three curses had hit him and he curled up in the fruitless attempt to stop the pain from spreading._

 _Voldemort kept watching him, his lip curling contemptuously, and twirled his wand in his fingers again. "Now, I've wasted more than enough time on you. I'm really curious to see who's going to be capable of helping you." He stopped twirling his wand and pointed it back at Ben. "Obliviate."_

Cassiopeia pulled back from the memory, her face pale and her mind racing. Anger was boiling up in her. Tom had intended for her to see this. He had peppered everything he had said with allusions that he had known she wouldn't miss.

' _Beware of the infinite freedom inherent in the lack of conscience_.'

The night when he had killed Floris she had accused him of being corrupted by his lack of conscience. She could still recall his reply. ' _You call it lack of conscience. I call it infinite freedom_.'

' _Whoever leads you into temptation will pay for it.'_

Floris had led her into one kind of temptation, and he had paid for it. Ben had led her into a very different kind of temptation, but still into temptation, and Tom had made him pay just the same.

Suddenly things fell into place. The three curses, dark red, shining blue and yellow. Tom's little speech, full of allusions to Floris.

All the curses he had used on Ben were curses Floris had taught them. Cassiopeia closed her eyes. She knew what he had done to Ben. She knew which curses he had used and yet she didn't have an antidote.

Why had he done this? He had been a step ahead of her ever since he had come here, claiming he wasn't going to curse her again, claiming she were different, claiming he hadn't been able to cause her pain, claiming he were ready to accept her decisions.

Cassiopeia pressed her lips together. Had all of this been just another one of his far too many lies?

He had known she might be capable to circumvent his Memory Charm. He had known she would witness his performance in Ben's dorm. He had even let her know which curses he had used.

He had done all this, fully aware that she still wouldn't be able to help Ben despite all her effort and all the information. There was no remedy for Floris' curses. There was no cure.


	27. Chapter 27

Cassiopeia leaned forward, propping up her elbows on the desk and burying her face in her hands. This couldn't be. There had to be a way to help Ben.

Suddenly she remembered Tom's last words before casting the Memory Charm. ' _I'm really curious to see who's going to be capable of helping you.'_

She sat up straight, a frown on her face. Why would he say that? He knew that Floris hadn't provided them with any countercurses. There was no sense in saying this, unless... maybe there was a way to cure the curses? Maybe Tom had found a way?

Then maybe she could find it as well. After all, his magical power might be stronger and more forceful than hers but she still had the theoretical knowledge. She sighed. If only she had a little more time. Floris' curses were going to grow stronger and stronger by the minute and it wouldn't take long until they were finally going to destroy Ben.

Cassiopeia grabbed her wand and apparated back to St.Mungo's. She went up to Ben's room, carefully paying attention that she wasn't seen by anyone. Ben was still lying in bed the way she had left him. She pursed her lips. The curses were clearly already starting to show their effects, and she knew that she had not enough time left to waste it trying out curses. There was only one way to help Ben. She had to go for broke.

She waved her wand at him and he woke up.

When his eyes fell on her, a weak smile appeared on his pale sweaty face. "Professor. You came back."

"Of course I did. I promised I'd do."

Ben's eyes were bloodshot, and he was breathing even harder than before. Cassiopeia knew he was running out of time.

"We have to get you away from here, without anyone noticing. Please don't ask why, just trust me, will you?"

Ben nodded wordlessly.

Cassiopeia helped Ben out of the bed and cast a disillusionment charm on both of them. Then she dragged Ben out of the room, down the stairs and out of the hospital. When they were finally outside, she turned to him and whispered, "I have to apparate us away from here. Have you ever apparated before?"

Ben shook his head. "We're not allowed to apparate."

Cassiopeia grimaced. "Oh, right, another one of those rules. Well, never mind, just hold onto me and make sure you don't let go, no matter what, ok?"

She grabbed Ben tightly and felt him holding onto her the best he could. Then she turned on the spot and apparated to Houlton Manor. She took Ben into her late father's room, helping him lay down in bed and drawing the curtains shut.

"Now I need just one moment. I'll be right back," she said quietly.

Ben nodded again. "Will I be alright again, professor?" His voice was trembling.

Cassiopeia eyed him for a moment before she replied, "I'll do all I can to make the best wizard I know look after you. If there's anyone who can cure you, it's him."

Ben looked at her. "Thank you, professor."

Cassiopeia left the room, pulling her wand from her pocket. In the hallway she shoved her sleeve up and pressed the tip of the wand against the mark, activating it. She didn't remove her wand, keeping it pressed against the brand, even when the mark was already completely jet black, knowing that the burning sensation Tom was feeling would be much stronger that way, much more urgent.

She only removed her wand when Tom was finally standing a few feet away from her, his eyebrows raised, a derisive smirk on his lips.

"I hadn't imagined you'd be craving my presence so soon again, and so urgently at that," he grinned.

"Save your sarcasm, Tom," Cassiopeia hissed, causing a look of surprise to flash through Tom's eyes.

"Why so irritated? I should have thought you'd be in a better mood after your first day at school, Professor Houlton."

"I'd say you should have thought about a lot of things, especially before doing them," she retorted. "What have you been thinking about doing _this_ , for instance?" She pointed her hand at the open door next to her.

Tom glanced into the room. When he saw who was lying on the bed, his eyes widened slightly. "You brought the Mudblood here?" He wasn't able to keep the disgust out of his voice.

Cassiopeia's lip curled. "He has a name, Tom. And you happen to know it, don't you?" she said sarcastically.

Tom pursed his lips and didn't reply.

"What is this game you're playing? I found him, I found his original memory, I found all your damn clues, I found out which curses you used. Unfortunately, the only thing I don't have the time to find out is the remedy."

"Well, that's a pity, isn't it? Such a cute and handsome boy, simply going to waste away. Looking at him, you could almost imagine my filthy father messing around with some foolish girl again. But, oh, thank Merlin, that's impossible because I successfully wiped out his bloody existence." Tom's voice was mocking.

Cassiopeia looked back at him, a fake sweet smile slowly spreading across her face. "Yes, he's a cute one, isn't he? I kind of like him, even if his looks strongly remind me of an arrogant, complacent, self-satisfied idiot I got to know a long time ago." She cocked her head a little. "But fortunately, he's not going to waste away, because _you_ are going to save him." She poked her finger into Tom's chest, her fake cheerful smile intensifying.

For a moment Tom looked taken aback. Then a fake smile of his own spread across his face. "And why should the arrogant, complacent, self-satisfied idiot be doing that?" he asked sweetly.

"Because, if I'm not mistaken, he claims to be the greatest sorcerer in the world, doesn't he?" She pursed her lips. "I've already said this once, but if it helps I'm going to say it again. Greatness is more than just being the one with the most powerful curses, Tom. This is your chance to prove whether you're really worthy of being considered great."

Tom stared back at her, unsure of what to respond. Cassiopeia sensed his indecision. If she had any chance at all, this was it. She drew a deep breath.

"If this...this thing we've got, whatever it is, and whatever you prefer to call it, if it means anything to you, anything at all, you will now go in there and undo what you should never have done in the first place." She looked him straight in the eyes, her expression unwavering.

Tom glanced back at her, holding her gaze, weighing his options. She didn't avert her eyes, and he knew he couldn't push her any further. The fake smile vanished from his features, his expression turning sincere.

"How do you know I'm able to remove the curses?" There was true curiosity ringing in his tone.

Tom watched Cassiopeia's features turn softer, and suddenly there was a gleam in her eyes that he hadn't seen in a very long time. "If anyone is capable thereof, it's you. I don't think you would have given me all those hints if Ben had been doomed to die from the beginning. I don't think you are that evil. And most of all I refuse to believe that you hate me so much that you would willingly cause me the pain of having to watch him die, knowing it was my fault that killed him." Cassiopeia's voice trailed away.

Tom exhaled sharply, staring back at her for another moment. Then he drew his wand, shaking his head. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this."

The ghost of a smile flickered across Cassiopeia's face and she hurried into the room and over to where the boy was lying.

"Ben. I'm back. We're going to save you."

Tom watched Cassiopeia crouching next to the bed, talking soothingly to the boy, an unfamiliar feeling of jealousy in the pit of his stomach. He slowly stepped closer to the bed, eying the boy with a vacant expression. When Ben caught sight of him, a terrified look shot through his eyes.

"But that's..." Ben's voice was trembling with fear.

Cassiopeia placed her hand on Ben's arm. "Yes, I know who he is. But he's not only that. He's the best wizard who's out there. Don't worry, you will be alright."

Tom stared at Cassiopeia and Ben and suddenly a strange feeling was bubbling up in his stomach. He tried to grasp why her words were making him feel better, stronger and prouder than any use of the Unforgivable Curses had ever been able to achieve. He tightened his grip around his wand. Without knowing why, he suddenly felt the strange desire to prove that she had been right about him, that the praise she had given him was justified.

He raised his wand, ignoring the terrified expression on the boy's face, focusing on Cassiopeia's calm eyes instead, on the warmth and belief that was shining in them. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the flow of his magic. When he started channelling his magic into the countercurses that would cure the boy he suddenly felt Cassiopeia's magic joining his, weaving around it and strengthening it from within. A genuine smile forced its way onto his face and he waved his wand, non-verbally undoing every curse he had cast on the boy.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: I somehow can't believe I'm already updating again but I felt so bad about Ben that I had to write this chapter as quickly as possible... Thanks for reading, reviewing and just being so supportive!**


	28. Chapter 28

Cassiopeia was kneeling next to Ben's bed, her eyes trained on the boy, the faintest trace of a smile on her face as she sensed Tom's magic radiating from him, for once not bound to destroy.

She felt her magic reaching out to his, joining it and supporting it. For the first time ever she realized just how strong and powerful their combined magic was. She glanced at Tom. He had his eyes closed, a smile gracing his lips. He looked more content than she had ever seen him before. Instinctively, she could tell that he was feeling the unusual power of their magic just the same.

She turned back to Ben. He was already looking a lot healthier although he was clearly still weakened and worn out by the curses' aftermath.

Finally Tom lowered his wand and opened his eyes. Cassiopeia threw him a questioning glance, and he nodded almost unnoticeably. She exhaled slowly and eyed Ben for another moment before she summoned a vial of Sleeping Draught from her room and uncorked it.

"Drink this, Ben. It will help you sleep. Tomorrow you'll be feeling much better."

Ben nodded wordlessly and took the vial from her hand, casting a wary glance at Tom. Then he gulped down the potion and lay back on the pillow. The next moment he had already fallen asleep.

Cassiopeia slowly left Ben's side and walked to the foot of the bed where Tom was still standing, rooted to the spot, his eyes fixed on the boy. When she was next to him, she whispered, a smile on her face, "I knew you had it in you."

Tom looked wordlessly back at her. For a moment they just stood there, silently looking into each other's eyes. Then Tom said hoarsely, his voice low, "I've missed being with you. I've missed the way you can make me feel."

Cassiopeia held his gaze, trying to control the amazing warmth his words sent rushing through her. "I've missed making you feel," she replied quietly.

Tom's eyes were sparkling, and she sensed what he wanted, but he restrained himself remarkably well. Yet, she could see the unspoken question burning in his eyes, and knew he was only waiting for her permission. Her lips twitched just the slightest bit and she gave him a small nod.

The next moment Tom bent down to her, kissing her like he had never kissed her before.

He was breathing hard, when he pulled away. His eyes locked with hers. "I doubt you know what you do to me." His voice was rough. "But don't ever stop doing it. Make me feel." He paused, running his fingers through her hair. "Make me feel your heartbeat, your endless emotion. Make me feel anything." There was a desperate longing gleaming in his dark eyes.

Cassiopeia looked back at him and slowly slipped her hands under his shirt, her gaze never leaving his. When she touched his skin, he felt every inch of his body burning. How could he ever have believed that feelings were weakness? How could he have believed there were no use for emotions?

The way her magic had been uniting with his while he had been casting those countercurses on the boy had once again disclosed to him how much power her emotions actually held.

He had been a fool to try to suppress this part of him, this part that was longing to feel the way she did, longing to care the way she did.

Clearly, his magic was basically more powerful than hers but when it came to the peaks he knew that hers outdid his.

When she cared, she was able to produce a power that effortlessly overshadowed his.

When she cared, she could summon up a kind of strength that he longed to possess.

And when he was with her, when he was close enough, it was the only time ever that he was able to feel that there was more inside of him than only hatred. She had the ability to stir this feeble bit of emotion that was buried so deep inside of him, this part of him that he had wasted so much useless effort on trying to get rid of.

He closed his arms around her waist, trying to keep control of his body, his eyes boring into hers. She looked back at him and he moved even closer, taking in the beautiful warmth that was shining in her eyes.

When she finally whispered, "Get us away from here, Tom," he didn't have to think twice. He tightened his grip around her waist and apparated them away.

x-x-x-x

When Tom entered the dining room of Houlton Manor the next morning, Cassiopeia was already sitting at the table, reading the Daily Prophet. She cast him a glance, a smile crossing her face, before she turned back to the newspaper. He walked to the empty seat opposite her and sat down. Immediately a plate appeared in front of him. He eyed his breakfast for a moment. Then he cleared his throat.

"We have to obliviate the Mu...," he stopped mid-sentence and coughed before he continued, "...the boy".

He glanced at Cassiopeia. Her gaze was still fixed on the paper. Looking back at his plate, he asked casually, "Who's going to do it?"

Cassiopeia kept her eyes trained on the paper in front of her and replied matter-of-factly, "Neither of us."

Immediately she sensed Tom's gaze back on her. He sounded surprised, when he asked, "You want him to remember what happened? Isn't that a little inconvenient?"

Cassiopeia looked up, cocking her head slightly. "Inconvenient for whom?"

Tom raised his eyebrows. "For both of us, I should think." He pushed his plate away and leaned back on his chair. "Do you want him to go tell his classmates and teachers that you called Lord Voldemort to help him get rid of his unfortunate, bad disease?"

"Are you afraid he might tell them that Lord Voldemort actually came and cured him?" Cassiopeia asked in return, slight amusement in her voice.

"Aren't you afraid what the others will think about you consorting with me?" Tom retorted, his voice matching hers.

They looked at each other, their gazes locked, neither of them willing to avert their gaze first.

Cassiopeia narrowed her eyes just the slightest bit. "I don't want to mess with his mind again."

"Well, you don't have to." Tom shrugged. "I'll do it."

"I don't like you messing with his mind either. It's rude, constantly robbing him of his memory," she said, shaking her head.

Tom quirked an eyebrow, the look in his eyes silently prompting her to provide an alternative.

Cassiopeia bit her lip. "We could just prevent him from telling anyone."

Slowly, a smirk appeared on Tom's features. "And you're honestly telling me _my_ suggestion is rude? I'd rather thought using the Tongue-Tying Curse were rude. But then again, it's just me." He grinned. "Probably I'm not qualified to judge."

He pulled his plate back towards him and took a bite of his breakfast. After a moment he said, "Alright, we'll do it your way. If you prefer Tongue-Tying to Obliviating, then it's that." He continued eating before he looked up again, the smirk back on his face. "So you wanna cast the curse?" His voice was teasing. "Or is it rather up to me to be the bad guy again?"

"Well, obviously you have a reputation at stake. I surely don't want to prevent you from keeping up an appearance." Cassiopeia shot him a sweet smile.

"You're never at a loss for an excuse, are you?" Tom smirked.

"Obviously I learned from the best," Cassiopeia retorted drily.

They finished breakfast in silence before they went to Ben's room together. Cassiopeia opened the door and stepped inside, Tom following her.

Ben was lying in bed but he was awake. Cassiopeia walked over to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, I guess?" Ben threw a wary glance in Tom's direction. Tom looked back at him, his face expressionless.

"Good." Cassiopeia cleared her throat. "Uhm, well, there's one thing we came to talk to you about..." She paused. "Uhm, yesterday you saw and heard a few things we prefer to keep...quiet...so..."

"We won't risk that you ever talk about what happened here," Tom cut in, plastering a very fake smile on his face. "Yet, no need to worry, it's very simple. As long as you're not telling anyone what you witnessed, everything's going to be alright. But if you attempt to disclose anything, the consequences will be very ugly and painful for you."

Ben shot Tom a fearful glance before he gazed at Cassiopeia.

She looked back at him, smiling apologetically. "Obviously, that's the deal, Ben."

Ben swallowed and nodded. "Of course I won't tell anyone. I promise."

"That's nice," Tom said, his voice full of sarcasm. "But surely you understand that I never rely on anyone's promises." He drew his wand. "You had better hope that this is the last time I have to raise my wand against you, boy..." His voice trailed away and with a swift movement he flicked his wand at Ben.

Ben stared at Tom, a frown on his face. "I...I don't feel any different?"

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you listened to me? Nothing happens as long as you don't try to betray us."

There was a moment of silence. Then Cassiopeia cleared her throat. "Well, then, I have to be off to school." She glanced at Ben. "You stay here. Dissy, the house elf, will care for you and bring you something to eat. I'll be back in the afternoon."

Ben cast another look at Tom. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Maybe I should return to my dorm..." His voice trailed off.

Tom smirked, his lip curling slightly. "Oh, don't worry, I won't be staying here with you if I can help it." He turned on the spot and was gone.

Cassiopeia shrugged. "Get a rest, Ben. I'll be back." Then she turned on the spot as well and left Ben staring at the now empty room, his thoughts whirling.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading!!**


	29. Chapter 29

Tom returned to his lair and went to his study. He had barely taken a seat when he sensed the Dark Mark of Nott being activated. A frown crossed his features. From the way it was burning he could tell that Nott hadn't activated it voluntarily. He suppressed a sigh. It was early morning. What the hell had this fool gotten himself into at this time of day?

Tom got up again and focused on Nott's whereabouts. Obviously he was on some kind of clearing. Tom concentrated and apparated, reappearing in the vicinity of Nott.

He immediately found himself faced with a fight that didn't look like Nott was having the upper hand. Nott was lying on the ground, desperately trying to fight off half a dozen opponents, one of them kneeling above him, pressing his left arm to the ground, the sleeve rolled up, the Dark Mark's black outline standing out against Nott's otherwise pale skin. Taking in the scene with a quick look, Tom scowled.

The wizard who was clamping Nott's arm to the ground was gazing around frantically, obviously trying to determine if Lord Voldemort was going to answer the mark's summoning.

Tom clenched his teeth. If they had intended for this to be a trap he would teach them that it took more than the capture of one of his Death Eaters and the activation of his mark to ambush him.

He drew his wand and silently approached the group of wizards from behind. When he was close enough, he brandished his wand at them, and a wave of fiery snakes left his wand and swept towards his opponents, attacking them. The wizards whirled around, momentarily distracted by the unforeseen assault.

Nott was able to take advantage of the sudden confusion and blasted away the man who was kneeling above him. He scrambled to his feet. The other men were conjuring shields, trying to save themselves from Tom's attack, but the fiery snakes simply cut through their shields as if they were made of paper. Tom flicked his wand at one of the men, hitting him with the Killing Curse.

Seeing the blinding green light, Nott brandished his wand as well, taking down another of the men who was busy attempting to fight off the snakes that were winding around his limbs.

Meanwhile Tom had slashed his wand at two further attackers, while simultaneously deflecting the curses they were throwing at him with a wave of his hand. The men fell lifelessly to the ground. Tom cast a glance at Nott who had managed to successfully cast the Killing Curse on another one.

Finally, only the wizard who had been kneeling above Nott was left. Nott narrowed his eyes at the man and was about to throw the Killing Curse at him, when Tom shot him a warning glare. Nott lowered his wand, and instead Tom flicked his wand at the man.

"Crucio." Tom's voice was nothing more than a hiss.

The man fell to the ground, his body twitching in pain. Tom kept his wand aimed firmly at his victim, while turning his glare at Nott. Over the screams of the man he snarled, "What's this about, Nott? How did you end up in this mess? Didn't I teach you anything? I mean, letting your enemies get access to your mark. How poor is that?"

Nott flinched. "I'm sorry, my lord."

Tom laughed humourlessly, and it sounded cold and cruel. "You're sorry? Yes, I bet you are. You'll be even more sorry when I'm done with this scum because you are next."

Nott swallowed hard. "I didn't mean to endanger you, my lord."

"Oh, don't worry, you didn't endanger _me_. I knew right away that you didn't activate your mark voluntarily. It wasn't that hard to guess you weren't alone and probably in trouble. But you endangered our cause, and, moreover, you endangered our secrecy. What would you have done if they had tortured you for information instead of brainlessly trying to ambush me? Lucky for you, they were too stupid to take advantage of your situation." Tom paused, before continuing, carefully stressing every word, "So how did this happen?"

Nott lowered his eyes. "I...I...was...," he stammered.

The screams of the wizard who was winding on the floor were starting to get hoarse, his voice beginning to fail. Nott gazed at the man.

Tom raised an eyebrow. "I'm waiting for your explanation, Nott. A little more than three stammered words would surely be nice. And if this idiot's whimpering distracts you too much I suggest you mute him."

Nott obediently waved his wand at the man and silence fell on the clearing. Nott cleared his throat. "I had heard about a conspiratorial meeting out here, and I decided to investigate..." His voice trailed off.

"You decided to investigate? _Alone_? How many times have I told you to _never_ do any such thing _alone_?" Tom abruptly stopped channelling his curse at the wizard on the floor and brandished his wand at Nott instead.

Nott gasped and bent over, a pained scream leaving his mouth. Tom narrowed his eyes at him. "I will just leave your punishment to the others. They surely won't be too happy you risked their exposure." He shook his head and turned his attention back to the wizard on the ground before him. The man was still trembling, his limbs twitching unconsciously every now and then.

Tom gazed at the wizard for a moment before he decided to try and enter his mind. It didn't take much effort at all. The wizard's mental shields were weak, and he didn't put up much of a fight. Tom's lip curled contemptuously when he broke through the shields and into the wizard's mind.

x-x-x-x

When Cassiopeia returned to Houlton Manor in the afternoon, she went straight to Ben's room and knocked on the door before creaking it open.

Ben was standing at the window, looking outside. When she entered, he turned around.

"Professor."

"I see you're already feeling better. You got up," Cassiopeia stated.

Ben nodded.

"That's good. Maybe you want to come downstairs and have some tea?"

Ben nodded again, a smile forming on his face. "You are so generous, professor, letting me stay here at your home, having the elf care for me..." He bit his lip. "It's hard to believe..." His voice trailed off.

Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow. "What's hard to believe?"

Ben's face turned red. "Never mind, it's not up to me to comment on this."

Cassiopeia cocked her head. "No, just continue, what's hard to believe?"

"Well, that you...and...him...," Ben paused. "That you are friends," he blurted out at last. "You seemed so _different_. I mean, you seemed to really care for me, actually you still do. You brought me here. You helped me. You did that even though I'm Muggle-born." Ben pursed his lips, his voice turning bitter. "Even though I'm one of those he regards as less worthy, as third class wizards. It's hard to believe you and he get along..." Ben's voice trailed away again, and he glanced at Cassiopeia. She was looking back at him, a small smile on her face, but somehow the smile seemed sad.

"I know," she finally replied simply and left the room.

Ben hurried after Cassiopeia, trying to catch up with her.

They went into the living room where the house elf had already served tea. Cassiopeia took a seat on the sofa and gestured Ben to do the same. He sat down next to her. The cookies on the coffee table in front of them looked delicious.

"Take one, if you like, they really are," Cassiopeia said, smiling.

Ben's gaze darted at her. "You can do it as well?"

Cassiopeia looked taken aback. "I can do what?"

"You read my mind. Just...just like him. Ever since you cast that curse on me, to get to see what happened to me, I catch those glimpses of...pieces of my memories, those flashbacks. I...I remember him reading my mind. I remember...he knew everything I was thinking."

Cassiopeia eyed Ben for a moment. "Yes, he's really good at Legilimency. But _I_ haven't been reading your mind. I just watched you looking longingly at those cookies." She took a cookie herself and leaned back. "Just like you said, we are very different."

Ben looked at her. A thoughtful gleam was lighting her eyes and she seemed momentarily lost in distant memories. Then her eyes focused on him again and she shrugged, "And yet, despite being so different, somehow we've always gotten along. We've had good times and bad, but who hasn't? For me, he's not this monster the world knows him to be. For me, he's just the best wizard I know." She paused. "It probably sounds crazy, but, for me, he's the best friend I've ever had."

Ben looked back at her, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, professor, that definitely sounds crazy." He smirked. "But just a little."

Cassiopeia glanced at him and once again she was struck by the thought how very much Ben was resembling Tom.

"Do you know anything about your family?" She knew her question caught him off-guard but he masked it well.

Ben shook his head. "They didn't tell us who our parents are or what happened to them. I don't even know where I'm from. My magic started showing very early, and I've been at the asylum in London since I was three. I don't remember my life prior to that. Though, they make sure no one remembers their families anyways, they obliviate every child as soon as they arrive." He pressed his lips together and Cassiopeia could stronglysense the suppressed hatred and frustration he was feeling.

She averted her gaze and pursed her lips. She had to admit that the theory of the treatment of Muggle-borns had never sounded as harsh as the reality probably was. It had been so easy and comforting to just focus on the thought that the Muggle-borns were far better off this way than the way Tom and the Knights of Walpurgis had originally planned. But it didn't change that they were still being treated poorly and unfairly.

Looking at Ben and the way he was suppressing his hatred, Cassiopeia couldn't help thinking that the oppression of Muggle-borns, all the rules concerning their magic and the interaction with half-bloods and pure-bloods, was a ticking time bomb they were sitting on.

The world they had created, the world as it was now, that wasn't the way things would stay forever, no matter how much Tom and the Death Eaters wanted them to. One day there would be enough hatred and frustration among the Muggle-borns, there would be enough despair to make them stop cowering and there would be enough wizards to help them get their life back, the life that Tom and the Death Eaters had taken away from them.

x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading!!**


	30. Chapter 30

Tom was standing in the living room of Malfoy Manor and was looking out of the window, his thoughts travelling back to the meeting he had ended recently. His Death Eaters had hurried to leave as soon as he had closed the meeting. They had all been preoccupied with what he had told them, he had seen it written all over their faces. Granted, the news he had had to share had not been too good at all.

His invasion of the wizard's mind on that clearing where he had found Nott had alerted him to a solid underground movement, whose members were severely plotting against their pure-blood government. He had spent almost three whole weeks trying to gather further information, and the deeper he had gone into it, the more disturbing it had become.

There was a revolution on the way which was nothing short of dangerous to his cause. It was the kind of threat that he would have suspected Dumbledore to set up, had he still been alive. But as it was, with Dumbledore being dead, he had no clue as to who was the leader of the revolutionary forces, and he hadn't been able to find out anything about whoever it was, either.

Tom clenched his jaw. He was no fool. There was a movement on the rise that was dangerous. They were gaining strength, and they were gathering supporters. They needed to be stopped.

Tom pursed his lips. It wouldn't take long before they would be at war again. And there was no denying that it would be a tough war. The pure-bloods were in the minority, and besides, not even all pure-bloods were on their side. He would have to make sure he got every support he could to secure his power.

x-x-x-x

Cassiopeia was watching the hooded figure walk along the driveway of Houlton Manor and disappear into the darkness. She had been wondering why Tom had called his Death Eaters all evening.

Now she knew.

She closed the door and bit her lip. It had been the first time ever that she had seen doubt in a Death Eater's eyes.

She slowly went up the stairs to her father's room. She paused at the door and watched Ben packing his things.

"Are you ready to go back?" She threw him a worried glance.

Ben looked up. "Yes, of course. I've had two weeks of holidays to recover. I want to go back to school."

Cassiopeia nodded. "Well, then, when you're done, I'll apparate you there."

Ben grabbed his backpack and his wand and walked over to where she was standing, holding out her hand. The moment he touched her arm, she pulled him into the spinning darkness of side-along Apparition.

At school Ben went to his dorm and Cassiopeia headed to the staff room. When she entered, silence fell on the room and six pairs of eyes turned to the door. Cassiopeia quirked an eyebrow.

"Talking about secrets?"

Lance gave a short humourless laugh. "Oh, it's just you. Well, nowadays you can never be careful enough, can you?"

Cassiopeia smiled in response but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

Lance shrugged. "I was just telling the others that I had a visitor during the holidays. Someone from the asylums. He told me some interesting things. And they are looking for... allies."

"Allies?" Cassiopeia repeated, trying to keep her voice as even as possible.

"Yeah, well, obviously there are a lot of rumours concerning the possibility of returning to the way things were... before. The possibility of restoring the old world order... you know?"

Cassiopeia nodded, forcing the smile to stay on her features and her voice to stay calm. "That sounds...intriguing."

"It surely is. I told my visitor there might be people at this school who'd support..."

"Are you all mad?" Percival suddenly cut in. "People are stupid to believe they could change anything."

Felix and the others who had only been listening up to now huffed. Felix shot Percival a disapproving glance. "I really don't know what happened to your spirit of adventure, Perce. When did you turn into such a coward?"

"I'm no coward," Percival retorted. "I just don't want to die an untimely and surely painful death."

Cassiopeia bit her lip, gazing at the others, her eyes expressionless.

Lance shrugged again. "Well, if anyone's interested, there's a meeting just after midnight. If you wanna join, you only need to tell me."

x-x-x-x

When Cassiopeia returned home, she felt sick. All those months she had been hoping so badly that the time of constantly having to choose between following the right path and staying with Tom was finally over.

And yet, as always, reality had had to strike back, relentlessly, of course. Now she had to decide if she rather risked her friends being exposed and condemned for trying to end a tyranny that any sane person would want to end or if she refrained from telling Tom and finally did what he had already accused her of anyway, betray his trust.

Cassiopeia sat on the sofa, propping up her elbows on her knees and burying her head in her hands. She wondered whether she actually still had a choice or if, in fact, fate had already laid the plans anyways, seeing that she was far too deep down that one road after all. Where was this going to end? When was it all going to blow up in their faces?

All she had ever wanted was just a little happiness. Was that really so much to ask for? That day, back then at Hogwarts, she had harboured the foolish hope that, finally, after all that Tom had put them through, they would be able to find some kind of peace.

But Tom's darkness was too consuming. It was too deep. Somehow it was a lot like a dementor. It successfully sucked all happiness out of everything.

She sighed and got up again. Then she cast a last look around before she apparated to Tom's lair.

x-x-x-x

Tom was sitting at his desk when a low crack tore the silence and made him look up. There was only one person who was able to apparate through the wards. He watched the door. A few moments later there was a knock and the door swung open, revealing Cassiopeia standing in the hallway.

Tom leaned back in his chair, a smirk on his lips. "What a surprise, seeing you here."

Cassiopeia eyed him wordlessly.

Tom gazed back at her for a moment before he finally cocked his head. His features turned into a blank mask, but a look of alarm crossed his eyes. "What happened?"

Cassiopeia clenched her jaw. "Your striving for power and my conscience collided once again, obviously." She remained standing in the hallway, her hands buried in her pockets, her gaze fixed on Tom. Then she shook her head. "Only Merlin knows why I'm still here."

Tom slowly got up and walked to the door. Leaning with his side against the doorframe, he repeated, "What happened?"

Cassiopeia exhaled. "I just wanted to tell you to be careful."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Are you feeling well?"

Cassiopeia looked back at him. "No, actually, I'm not. But I still know what I'm saying."

Tom narrowed his eyes slightly. Why was she acting so weirdly? Without thinking, he narrowed his eyes further, unconsciously concentrating. She was hiding something. She would never have come just to tell him to be careful. That was such a strange thing to say anyways. If she didn't tell him what she wanted, maybe he could...

"Don't." Cassiopeia's voice tore him from his thoughts. She was glaring at him. "Don't even think about it."

"I wasn't..."

"You were." She quirked an eyebrow.

"Ok, I was. But only because you're talking so cryptically."

"I don't think there's anything cryptic about reminding you to be careful," Cassiopeia stated drily.

"But I always am." Tom's eyes were boring into hers, trying to determine what she was thinking without using Legilimency.

Cassiopeia looked back at him, holding his gaze. She didn't know what had happened. She had come here with the full intention of telling him what she had heard. But when she had seen him, she hadn't been able to turn the others in. She didn't want to support the wrong side any longer. Tom had had his share of power. He had had his go at shattering the world. Now it was up to the others to make the light win again. The light deserved it. The Muggle-borns deserved it. Ben deserved it.

"It's been a while since you've last been at war," she finally said, her voice low.

"But we're..." Tom stopped abruptly mid-sentence and narrowed his eyes. "How do you know?" He pushed away from the doorframe and took a few steps towards her, suppressing a sigh. "It was Avery, wasn't it?"

Cassiopeia didn't reply.

"I should've known it." Tom shook his head. "Avery... What's this between you and him?"

Cassiopeia shrugged. "So what, if he told me? At least _he did_. Although it's actually something _you_ should have told me, don't you think?"

Tom pursed his lips, and this time he didn't reply.

Cassiopeia drew a deep breath. "Why don't you just stop fighting, Tom?"

Tom's gaze darted to her eyes. "What?" For once his voice lost all its indifference. "You can't be serious." He sounded incredulous.

"And yet I am." Cassiopeia shook her head. "Is it really worth living through another war, this thirst for power of yours? Why don't we just go away again, why don't we just go back to diving into all the mysteries magic is able to offer, far away from all this bloodline nonsense? I remember, back then, we had the best times of our lives." A smile crossed her face. "You used to be different then. I daresay you even used to be happy..." Her voice trailed away.

Tom stared back at her. Cassiopeia could see the memories swim through his eyes and for a short moment she had the impression that he was about to agree. But then he averted his gaze and shook his head. "I don't run away. I don't lose. Never."

Cassiopeia nodded. She hadn't expected him to react any differently, but at least she had tried.

"So, just be careful then," she said lowly. Then she turned on the spot and left Tom staring at the empty hallway.


	31. Chapter 31

Before Cassiopeia went to bed that night she walked over to her dressing table and sat down. After a moment she opened one of the drawers. She carefully fumbled for the tiny device that was hidden under various things in the far corner of the drawer. When she finally pulled the time turner out, she thoughtfully eyed it for a long moment.

So this was it. This was the time turner that would one day take Tom back in time, back more than a quarter of a century, to make her intrude on his younger self creating his second Horcrux in the Chamber of Secrets, to attack them out on Hogwarts' grounds, to change whatever he considered had gone wrong the first time around.

Cassiopeia wondered what had happened in the original timeline, what had been so bad that it had made Tom go back to try and fix it.

She also wondered what was going to happen when the time came for him to use it. Obviously Tom would try to travel back and if everything went smoothly his original self would be there to take his place. The thought seemed odd. Suddenly there would be someone next to her who didn't only know what had happened this time around but also what had happened originally. It would be Tom but in some ways it would be someone entirely unknown to her as well. Someone who had used her to his own advantage without thinking twice. Someone who was even more coldblooded and emotionless than the Tom she knew. Someone she realized she was afraid of.

A soft crack tore her from her thoughts. Cassiopeia closed her eyes. Somehow Tom had an uncanny intuition to always know when his presence was appreciated least and to always appear exactly then.

She sensed him standing behind her. Instinctively she closed her hand around the time turner.

"Don't you know it's rude to just apparate into a woman's bedroom?" Cassiopeia asked drily.

Tom ignored her sarcasm. "I don't know where the future's going to take us but I think you still have something I'll be going to need. So I'd say there's something you want to give to me now."

"Oh, do you?" Cassiopeia stared at her closed hand. "Actually I'm not quite sure if I want to," she muttered.

Tom raised an eyebrow but didn't reply.

"It's going to be weird, don't you think?" Cassiopeia abruptly turned to look at him.

"I'll tell you what I think if you kindly let me know what you are talking about," Tom retorted, his eyebrow still quirked.

"It's going to be weird when your other self will replace you." Cassiopeia looked into his eyes. To her surprise they weren't as empty as she had expected them to be. There was a faint hint of something shining in them, some kind of emotion she couldn't quite place.

Tom looked back at her, his gaze still locked with hers, pondering her words for a moment. Then he answered calmly, "It's still me."

Cassiopeia bit her lip. "I know. But in some ways it's more than just you. It's you with memories of a time that doesn't exist anymore. You will know things about me that I don't. You can't deny that's creepy... and somehow scary."

Tom didn't respond. He knew she was right. The moment he was going to leave his then no longer future but present self would take over, equipped with all his memories of this timeline as well as the ones from the past. He would know what had made him change time in the first place. He would know what had happened originally. He would know, and she wouldn't.

Yet, aside from that, he would still be the same. Everything he had done, everything he had experienced in this timeline, all of that had influenced his counterpart as well. It was still him, after all, only with a whole lot of further knowledge and memories.

"It's going to be alright, believe me," he finally said evasively.

He could tell that Cassiopeia wasn't convinced, and he couldn't blame her. He knew he wouldn't like not knowing either. He wouldn't want to be in her place. But there was no point in contemplating. It had to be that way, and it was going to be that way, and, clearly, she knew that just like he did.

Tom's gaze fell on Cassiopeia's hand that was still closed tightly around the small device. "I understand that you don't like it, but you still have to give me the time turner." Tom held out his hand.

Cassiopeia looked at his outstretched hand, knowing that he was right. No matter how much she disliked being left in the dark, she couldn't hold Tom back. Destroying the consistency of the timelines was the last thing they needed. After all, it would be much worse than any war could ever be. Reluctantly, she opened her hand and threw a last glance at the tiny object before thrusting it in Tom's hand.

Tom pocketed the time turner carefully. Cassiopeia turned back towards her dressing table and slowly closed the drawer that was still open. There was one question burning on her mind. She lightly ran her fingers over the wood of her dressing table, wondering if she should ask. She sensed Tom still standing behind her, obviously waiting. Finally, she made up her mind.

"Will you tell me when you go? Will I know that it's no longer you? Or are you just going to disappear one day?" She looked up at Tom's reflection in the mirror.

Tom eyed her thoughtfully. He had already contemplated the options repeatedly. In a way it surely would be easier and more comfortable if she didn't know when his selves were going to change. But deep inside he knew that he wanted her to know. He pursed his lips. Finally he asked, "Do you want me to tell you?"

His question caught Cassiopeia by surprise, and she looked momentarily taken aback. Actually she had never truly thought about it because she hadn't expected to have a choice.

She tried to get her thoughts straight. Did she want to know? Not knowing meant she could always fool herself into believing that he was still the same as before. On the other hand then there would always be doubt, and she hated being left in the dark.

After a moment of silence, she said, "Yes, I want to know."

Tom nodded slowly. "Well, then I'll tell you." He moved closer and put his hands on her shoulders. Looking at their reflections in the mirror, his eyes travelled over her appearance. He could tell that she was watching their reflections as well, and their eyes locked.

For a while they eyed each other in silence. Then Tom cleared his throat.

"I don't know where all of this is going to end, and somewhere inside I really wish I could just follow through with what you said earlier." Tom slowly ran his hands from her shoulders to her arms and tightened his grip, pulling her up. He was still gazing intently at her reflection in the mirror. "You were right, I was happy back then. But you were also right that I was different." He shook his head. "I can't go back there. I'm not twenty anymore even though I might still look like it. I don't run away. I fought too hard for what I have."

Cassiopeia kept looking at his reflection, too. "But what do you have? Where's the sense, if you're not happy now? It doesn't matter if you are still young, it only counts if you feel that way." She turned around until they were face to face and lightly ran her hand through his hair. Instantly, she felt him react to her touch. Her lips twitched slightly. "We could have it all the easy way, and any war wouldn't matter."

Tom looked back at her, a small smile tugging at his lips, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that he didn't agree.

His voice was hoarse, when he said, "Let's try not to think about what might be going to happen tomorrow." He closed the remaining distance between them and pressed his lips against hers, taking in her scent and her warmth. "Let's just cherish what we're having right now."

He felt her responding to his kiss and a wave of desire and passion flooded his body. He pulled her over to her bed, while removing her dressing gown and untying her hair. He felt Cassiopeia unbotton his shirt and stripping it off, her fingers all over him, and he pushed her down on the bed, bending over her.

This curious bit of emotion inside of him bubbled up again, once again making him feel alive and content. He felt his body get hard against hers, and he closed his eyes, drowning out all the thoughts and concerns that were swirling inside his mind, only concentrating on the drumming pulse of his passion that was steadily rushing through him, longing to be satisfied.

Cassiopeia looked up at Tom's burning eyes, at his flushed cheeks and ruffled hair and a smile crossed her features before she let his unguarded passion carry her away, willingly giving in to all those waves of powerful emotion.

If the world was going to go down tomorrow, at least they would have made today count.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks so much for reading!**


	32. Chapter 32

The weeks went by and with every day that passed the news in the Daily Prophet got worse.

Pure-blood families got attacked in their homes or were ambushed on the streets by followers of the revolutionary movement, and in return the Death Eaters and their supporters launched violent attacks on the asylums and on members of families who were suspected to support the revolution. The bloodshed on both sides increased on a daily basis.

Lance had cornered Cassiopeia several times, trying to persuade her to join the revolutionary forces, but so far Cassiopeia had been able to worm her way out every time with one excuse or the other.

She knew that what they were trying to achieve was right, but that didn't change that she would never be able to join them.

There was no way she would ever fight against Tom, no matter how wrong his cause was. She disagreed with his beliefs, and she hoped that the light would ultimately defeat the darkness, but she knew she could never fight a battle against the man she loved.

One day, after her last lesson, Lance held her back once again.

"Have you thought about our conversation from last week?" he asked intently.

Cassiopeia nodded and unconsciously touched the sleeve of her left arm, pulling it further down. "Yes, Lance, but I'm sorry. I can't." She smiled apologetically.

"But, Cass... I know you're a capable witch, and we really need every good witch and wizard we can get. The Death Eaters are strong and powerful. It will be hard to win." Lance pursed his lips. "I know you're a pure-blood, but I've seen how you've been supporting Ben. You don't believe he's worth less just because of his blood, do you?"

Cassiopeia snorted. "No, I surely don't believe in pure-blood supremacy. I never did."

"Then, don't you want to make things better for Ben and people like him?" Lance pressed.

Cassiopeia sighed. "I do, you have no idea. But still, I can't join you."

"But why?" Lance eyed her uncomprehendingly.

"That's complicated..." Cassiopeia's voice trailed away, and she shook her head. "I'm really sorry, Lance."

Lance pressed his lips together, disappointment visible on his features. He nodded. "Maybe you'll change your mind. You know where to find me."

Cassiopeia watched him walking away, a tight knot in her stomach. Why did life have to be that way? Why did it have to be so difficult?

x-x-x-x

It was almost midnight when Tom appeared silently outside the gates of Houlton Manor. He quickly strode towards the house, carefully avoiding the path that was leading to the entrance. He had taken to secretly checking on the Manor every night ever since the fighting had started a few weeks ago, intending to make sure Cassiopeia remained safe.

Standing in the shadows of the trees he observed the manor for a while. The living room was lighted, and he could see Cassiopeia moving behind the curtains.

Suddenly he heard a branch break in the vicinity. Instantly Tom's eyes narrowed, and he squinted into the darkness, his hand reaching for his wand. He couldn't see anyone but he sensed that he wasn't alone anymore. Instinctively his hand tightened around his wand. Noiselessly he backed away from where he had been standing and moved closer to where the noise had come from. He carefully approached the path that led to the house, his wand drawn. When he reached the tree closest to the path he could finally make out a hooded figure that was hiding only a few feet away, the back turned to him, obviously observing the mansion and spying on Cassiopeia.

Tom felt a wave of fury surge through him. With a quick movement he brandished his wand at the figure and stunned the unknown intruder with a body binding curse, making whoever it was fall to the ground with a low thud.

Tom slowly walked closer. With another flick of his wand he turned the body over. Judging from his appearance it was a wizard in his early twenties. He was staring up at Tom with a mixture of fear and defiance evident in his eyes. Tom gazed contemptuously back at the man for a moment. Then he cast a silencing charm around them and summoned the wizard's wand, catching it with his free hand. With another wave of his wand he lifted the muting charm.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Tom hissed venomously.

"I'll never tell you," the unknown wizard spat.

Tom raised his eyebrows just the slightest bit, a condescending sneer forming on his face. "Well, we shall see." Brandishing his wand once again he hissed, "Crucio."

The wizard gasped, shortly trying to refrain from screaming but Tom's curse was relentless. Wave after wave of agonizing pain tormented the wizard's body, and Tom listened to the man's involuntary screams, a satisfied gleam in his eyes. He kept his wand pointed firmly at his victim, contemptuously watching the terror on the other's features.

Finally he lifted the curse.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he repeated, his voice icy.

The wizard panted heavily, gasping for air, but didn't reply.

"Haven't had enough yet?" Tom asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

A look of horror crossed the man's face but before he could respond, Tom's Cruciatus Curse had hit him again, this time possibly even worse than before.

Tom watched the man with blank eyes. "You know, I can do this for hours. I don't mind. If I have to listen to your pathetic whining for the rest of the night, I'll do it." He shrugged.

The wizard's eyes were shining with agony, and Tom spotted a hint of wavering in them. He intensified his curse once again before he abruptly lifted it.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he asked again, his voice deadly calm now.

The other wizard panted for air. Between his gasps he stammered, "I was only told to observe this house."

"Who told you?"

"I don't know."

Tom quirked his eyebrow and raised his wand again.

Seeing this, the other wizard winced, pleading, "No, please don't, I really don't know who it was. I received an owl from a staff member of one of the asylums." He gasped for air again.

"Which asylum?"

"The one in Newcastle. Please, that's all I know."

Tom narrowed his eyes. "And what exactly were you supposed to do?"

"Just observe this house and report about it."

Tom stared at the wizard for another moment. Then he pointed his wand at him again and entered the other's mind effortlessly. If the wizard had ever had any mental barriers at all, he had definitely lost the strength to keep them up through the Cruciatus Curse.

Tom mercilessly ripped through the wizard's mind, thoroughly looking for any hint of further information. He quickly pushed past the predominant memory of the agonizing pain his torturing curse had caused and carefully searched the deeper layers of the man's mind.

But the wizard had obviously told the truth. He didn't know any details. Finally Tom retreated from his mind. The wizard was still panting heavily, his face contorted with pain and terror.

Tom cast him a last condescending glare. Then he brandished his wand and hissed, "Avada Kedavra."

x-x-x-x

Cassiopeia was switching off the lights of the living room, intending to go to bed, when suddenly an unearthly green light illuminated the front yard and died away.

Cassiopeia stopped dead in her tracks and held her breath. She would know this light anywhere, she had unfortunately seen it far too many times in her life.

With a swift movement she drew her wand. Her heart was beating loudly. Slowly she tiptoed to the entrance door and peered through the window next to the door. There was nothing to be seen.

Cassiopeia took a deep breath, holding her wand at the ready. Then she carefully opened the door a crack. She could see someone standing a little down the path in the shadows of the trees. On the ground there was a dark heap, probably the curse's target. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make out any details.

In this moment the figure who was standing in the shadows looked up and right into her face. Cassiopeia was just about to cast a curse when the moon appeared from behind the heavy clouds and illuminated the yard. In the pale moonlight Cassiopeia recognized the stranger immediately.

She exhaled slowly and lowered her wand. Tom was looking back at her, a strange expression on his face and his eyes clearly not as detached as usual. Cassiopeia didn't move. Somehow his expression was frightening.

With a few quick strides Tom walked over to her, and she opened the door a little further to let him inside. He wordlessly stepped into the hall. Cassiopeia closed the door behind him, leaning with her back against it.

Silence filled the hall. So far neither of them had said a word.

Cassiopeia watched Tom, an uncomfortable feeling of anxiety swirling in her stomach. Why didn't he say anything? She bit her lip and whispered, "Tom?"

Tom turned to look at her. "You can't stay here. It's not safe anymore."

Cassiopeia stared back at him. "What?"

"I caught someone spying on you outside."

Cassiopeia's eyes widened. "What?" she repeated incredulously. "Spying? On me? But why would anyone spy on me? I don't hold any power. This is not my war."

Tom looked back at her, clenching his jaw. "Don't be naive. Of course this is your war, just as it's mine." He glanced at the wizard's wand that he was still holding in his hand. "They probably think they can use you to get to me," he stated matter-of-factly.

Cassiopeia quirked an eyebrow and a bitter smirk crossed her face. "But that's nonsense. Nothing gets to you."

Tom didn't reply. He wasn't so sure about that anymore and he knew he couldn't afford to find out. "You still have to leave," he finally said.

Cassiopeia shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere. My family has lived here for centuries. This is my home." Her voice was determined.

Tom clenched his jaw even harder. How he hated her stubbornness. How he hated not being able to control her. His gaze locked with hers and for a moment they stared at each other before Tom huffed, "Then we need to put further protection on this house. Shields, wards, whatever you can think of."

Cassiopeia nodded, trying to collect herself.

Suddenly a thought came to her mind. "I remember my father telling me about some ancient protection spells on this property. I could try to activate them."

"Well, then do it." Tom watched Cassiopeia walk back into the living room and to an old painting, pointing her wand at it. After a moment the painting started to change, revealing multiple lines of incantations on the canvas.

Cassiopeia read them carefully before she waved her wand and recited the spells one after the other.

Tom kept watching her. When she had finished, they looked at each other.

At first nothing happened. Then a deep yellow light erupted from the painting and slowly wavered through the room, stretching and widening like a huge shield. The sight was impressive.

"It's working." Tom sounded both surprised and satisfied. He threw a glance at Cassiopeia. Her face was vastly expressionless.

Cassiopeia felt a heavy lump in her throat. The incantation was indeed working. Yet, she couldn't quite relish the success. It hadn't been supposed to be working after all.

Only the rightful owner of the property was capable of setting the protection in charge.

But the rightful owner was supposed to be Cepheus. The fact that she had been able to shield the house didn't mean anything good.

"What happened to Ceph?" Cassiopeia's voice was low, and she avoided looking at Tom, pressing her lips together.

There was a moment of silence. Then Tom said, "I don't know. Why should anything have happened to him?"

"The incantation was supposed to be only working if Ceph performed it." Cassiopeia stated tonelessly, finally looking into Tom's eyes.

Tom immediately grasped the hidden accusation. Without thinking, he arranged his features into a look of innocence.

Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows and held his gaze. "What happened to my brother, Tom?" Her voice sounded more determined now.

Deciding to try to keep up his pretence, Tom asked, "Why would I know what happened to him?"

Cassiopeia narrowed her eyes. "Oh, just stop acting and tell the truth for once," she huffed exasperatedly.

Tom returned her stare, well aware that his reflexive change of expression had given him away. After a moment he clenched his jaw almost unnoticeably. The fake innocent look vanished from his eyes until they were as blank and emotionless as usual.

Then he shrugged and said, "I think you know what happened."

There was a moment of silence.

"You killed him," Cassiopeia finally replied tonelessly.

Tom shrugged again. "So you know the answer."

Cassiopeia exhaled slowly, her eyes still locked with his. "Why? Why him of all people?" She sounded resigned.

Tom gritted his teeth. His voice was full of suppressed fury, when he said, "He thought you deserved better than me. He asked me to let you go. Obviously, I disagreed." He paused for a second before he continued, his voice lighter now, "It's safe to say it didn't end well."

Cassiopeia turned away, and silence filled the room once again. She knew she had been suspecting this for a long time. Yet somehow she had always hoped she was wrong and Ceph would just return home one day. He had been the last remaining family she had had, after all.

She surely should have known that Tom wouldn't give a damn about this, and yet it hurt that he had obviously killed Ceph just as thoughtlessly as all his other victims.

"Killing my brother because he cared for me, that's a new low, even for you," Cassiopeia said hoarsely.

Tom swallowed. "It's been years since that happened."

"Honestly, I don't see why that would make it any better." Cassiopeia shook her head. Her mind was filled with questions she craved to ask but simultaneously knew she probably didn't want to hear the answer to. She walked over to the window and looked out at the front yard.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why pretend he left?"

"I thought it was easier that way."

"For whom?" Cassiopeia replied, bitterness ringing in her voice.

Tom didn't answer.

After a moment she asked, "Where is he? He deserves to be laid to rest at home."

Tom pursed his lips. He joined Cassiopeia at the window, his hands in his pockets. "He's already at home. I thought I owed that to you."

"You thought you _owed that_ to _me_?" Cassiopeia asked incredulously. She abruptly turned around and looked into Tom's eyes. They were dark, beautiful and, yet again, completely empty.

There was nothing in them. To him, Ceph had just been another one of his victims, just another number on a long list of far too many poor haunted souls to even keep counting.

Cassiopeia averted her gaze and walked to the door. Just before she had reached it, Tom coughed.

"I'm sorry."

His voice was barely audible and Cassiopeia wasn't certain if maybe she had only imagined him saying it because his words were contrasting so sharply with the look she had seen in his eyes.

Cassiopeia clenched her jaw and paused for a second before she finally left the room.


	33. Chapter 33

Tom was sitting at the long table in the living room of Malfoy Manor, surrounded by his inner circle of Death Eaters. His gaze swept over the group. Most of the men were looking down at the table in front of them. Only Lestrange, Malfoy and Rosier had their faces turned towards him, but they too weren't meeting his gaze. They were all waiting for him to disclose the meeting's purpose.

Tom had summoned them as soon as he had left Houlton Manor. He felt his temper flare dangerously, thinking about the encounter outside Houlton Manor mere hours ago. His magic was swirling aggressively around him.

"What do you know about the asylum in Newcastle?" Tom finally asked.

Avery looked up. "Malachi Buchanan is in charge of the asylum in Newcastle, my lord. As far as I heard it's a rather small and unspectacular one."

Tom looked back at Avery. "Are there any hints that there are members of the revolution among the staff of the asylum?"

Avery looked surprised. "I was always under the impression that Buchanan supported our cause unconditionally. Do you have any reason to assume differently, my lord?"

"I have reliable information that they are supporting our enemies. I don't know who's behind it. But I intend to find out." He glanced at his followers once again, his gaze swiftly moving from one face to the next. After a moment he said, "Avery, Lestrange, Rosier. I want you to turn the asylum upside down for any informaton about anything they've been involved in. Get all the information you can and then just dispose of everyone."

The three men nodded dutifully and Lestrange immediately said, "Consider it done, my lord."

Tom turned to look at the others. They were obviously waiting for him to give further orders, eager to not rouse his already short temper, their gazes fixed on the table in front of them. Tom suppressed a smirk. The power of unlimited fear didn't fail to fascinate him time and time again.

"That's all for now. You can leave," he commanded curtly and got up. The others quickly followed suit and silently filed out of the room. Rosier and Lestrange were the last to leave. Before they reached the door Tom raised his voice again. "Rosier, Lestrange."

The two men instantly stopped and turned back to Tom, their eyes turned to the floor. "My lord?"

"Signal me as soon as you find anything of importance." Tom's voice was sharp.

"Of course, my lord," Rosier replied and Lestrange nodded.

Tom stared at them for another moment before dismissing them with a wave of his hand.

He waited until he was alone in the living room. Then he turned on the spot and apparated back to Houlton Manor.

By now it was early morning. It didn't take him long to realize that the house was empty. Tom clenched his jaw. He had left a note, telling Cassiopeia to stay inside. Although it didn't surprise him that she had disobeyed once again, he was irritated.

He left the house and rounded it until he found Cassiopeia in the back yard, working in the garden. When he approached her, she turned around and looked up.

Tom glowered at her. "You were supposed to stay inside."

Cassiopeia looked back at Tom, unfazed by his anger. His irritation was clearly showing on his face, marring his features in an ugly way. She knew he hated when things didn't go the way he wanted them to, and it was obvious that this time was no exception.

Pursing her lips, she stated, "There are wards all around the place, and thanks to my paranoid ancestors even all over the garden. I don't think anyone could sneak onto the property anymore without being noticed." Her lip curled slightly when she added, "That is aside from you, obviously."

Tom's expression didn't change. Still glaring at her, he spat, "I thought I had made myself clear. Staying inside was not only a suggestion."

"I'm not your prisoner, Tom." Cassiopeia's voice was icy. "I don't appreciate getting dictated what I'm supposed to do, not by you and even less by people who claim to be fighting for freedom."

Tom's eyes were still blazing with irritation but he decided to not argue any further. He clenched his teeth.

"I sent Lestrange, Avery and Rosier to find out what our enemies know about us. If there is anything to be discovered they will discover it."

"You sent Lestrange?" Cassiopeia asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tom narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong with Lestrange?"

A smirk crossed Cassiopeia's face. "Well, I can't imagine that he would mind if anyone killed me. He disliked me ever since I cursed him back then in our common room, thinking I did him wrong and he got punished for my fault. It's hardly reassuring that he's in charge of this task."

Tom looked at her for a moment. Then he shook his head. "Lestrange is one of my most skilled knights. If it's not due to some juvenile misuse of firewhiskey he, Avery and Rosier are the best wizards I have. And in all those years he proved to be absolutely loyal and reliable. He may not like you but he'll defend you no matter what if I order him to."

Cassiopeia shrugged. "If you say so."

Tom pursed his lips. "Why are you still angry with me? I said I was sorry."

Cassiopeia looked back at him. "Yes. You said it. It's hard to believe you meant it, though. You're never sorry. Actually I don't think you even know what being sorry means."

Tom's eyes locked with hers, and she held his gaze. He shifted his weight slightly. "Fine, you've got a point there. So what can I do to make you stop being angry?"

Cassiopeia shrugged again. "Maybe give me some time."

Tom averted his gaze and looked at the surrounding landscape.

Cassiopeia felt his magic radiating from him, and she suppressed a frown. Why the hell did his magic still feel so bloody comforting? How could it make her want to ignore what he had done, when she knew the only right thing to do was to never forget? Why did his magic still have such an impact on her, after all that had happened, after all he had done? How could she still love him?

Tom felt her magic backing away from his, and to his utter dismay it hurt. He stared at the meadows around them, trying to come up with an idea how to fix this mess, when he suddenly felt Rosier's mark burning. He exhaled sharply. That fool surely had great timing.

"I have to get going," he mumbled, casting another glance at Cassiopeia. She wasn't looking at him, her eyes trained on the rose bushes she was taking care of.

"Sure." Her voice was indifferent.

Tom watched her for another moment, uncertain what to do. He hesitantly took a step towards her, but then he changed his mind, turned on the spot and disapparated.

Cassiopeia looked over her shoulder at the empty garden and wordlessly shook her head.

x-x-x-x

Tom reappeared at Rosier's side, taking in the scene with a quick glance.

Lestrange, Rosier and Avery were surrounded by bodies. Only one wizard was still alive, even though he as well was in a bad condition. He was lying on the floor, his face and body covered with blood, and Lestrange had his wand aimed at him.

"We thought you might want to see for yourself, my lord." Avery's voice was rough. "They obviously suspect a whole lot about your relation with Houlton. They're thinking they can use her against you. This one," he gestured at the only survivor, "knew the most. You probably want to have a look."

Tom pulled his wand from his pocket and glanced at the wizard. Then he flicked his wand and entered the wizard's mind. There were a few feeble shields but it didn't cause Tom any trouble to fight them down. What he could see in the wizard's mind though caused him much more trouble.

They knew an awful lot. Actually, they clearly knew far too much.

He quickly searched through the different layers of the man's mind, thoroughly looking for any further information until he finally stumbled upon a memory the wizard had been desperately trying to hide.

Tom clenched his teeth.

Just as Avery had suspected they were intending to use Cassiopeia against him. They were planning to ambush her at school.

Unlimited wrath thundered through his body.

He didn't know what made him more furious, the thought that these fools were trying to harm Cassiopeia or the thought that he had actually allowed for something to exist that was able to get to him.

Yet, he would prevent anything of this from ever happening.

He retreated from the man's mind and turned to Lestrange. "Kill him."

Lestrange nodded, and the three of them watched Lestrange as the familiar green light left his wand, ending yet another life.

Tom stowed his wand. "Get the others for a meeting tonight at eight," he ordered curtly. Then he turned on the spot and was gone.

x-x-x-x

It was shortly before midnight when Tom showed up at Houlton Manor again. Cassiopeia had just left the living room.

She had been feeling sick all afternoon and had laid down on the sofa, hoping it was going to help, but the sickness hadn't subsided. She sighed. She had been feeling sick a lot lately. Slowly, it was starting to unnerve her.

She was about to climb the stairs when she saw a shadow moving in the far corner. She exhaled sharply when she recognized Tom.

"Merlin, do you want to give me a heart attack? What on earth are you doing there in the shadows?"

Tom took a step forward. "I thought I..." His voice trailed away.

Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to continue, when suddenly she felt sick all over again and abruptly turned around, rushing to the bathroom.

When she came out a few minutes later, Tom was waiting in front of the door.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Does it look like that for you?" Cassiopeia retorted and shot him a glance. "I have to go to bed. So what did you want?"

Tom pursed his lips. "Stay at home tomorrow. Don't go to work."

Cassiopeia eyed him, a look of surprise on her face.

"I hope I'll be better in the morning," she said, a little uncertainty in her voice.

"Just stay here tomorrow, will you? Just," Tom paused and pressed his lips together before continuing, "don't go."

They looked at each other for another moment. Then Cassiopeia turned towards the stairs. "Good night, Tom."

Tom watched her walking up the stairs, his mind unusually empty. When she had almost reached the upper floor, he finally made up his mind and quickly went up the stairs behind her, taking two steps at a time. As soon as he was close enough, he grabbed her wrist and made her turn around.

"Don't leave me standing there like that. Please don't be so... so much like me." Tom exhaled sharply. "I know I shouldn't have killed Ceph. It was unnecessary." He paused. "If I had a second chance, I wouldn't do it again, but as it is, I can't change it." Their gazes met, and there was an unusual sincerity evident in his eyes.

Realizing he was still gripping her wrist, Tom slowly let go.

Cassiopeia looked into his eyes. They were filled with more emotion than she had imagined him to be capable of. She sensed that his magic was trying to reach out to her again, and she could tell that this was surprisingly important to him.

Finally she said, "I appreciate your honesty, Tom. And I'm glad that there's still something human left inside of you." She gently touched his hand and brushed her lips against his before she turned around and disappeared to her bedroom.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks so much for reading. Please let me know what you think! I'm always so happy when I read your reviews!**


	34. Chapter 34

The next morning Cassiopeia went to work nonetheless.

While she was teaching the first years, she felt sick yet again and went to the window, intending to get some fresh air.

She was just looking outside when, suddenly, she saw them.

There were many of them, too many.

She swallowed hard. Instantly, things clicked into place. Tom's strange behaviour the previous night. His determination to ensure she was going to stay at home.

The Death Eaters were going to attack the school.

Without thinking, Cassiopeia pulled her wand and turned to her class. "Run, all of you! Try to get away from here or find a place to hide! They are going to attack! Go!"

The students looked back at her, momentarily taken aback before her words finally sank in. Then they jumped up from their seats, and Cassiopeia followed them out of the classroom.

Her mind was racing. She had to warn the others. She went to the nearest classroom. It was Lance's.

When she opened the door and stepped inside, she was surprised to find it nearly empty. Only Lance and Ben were standing close to the desk. Cassiopeia threw them a confused glance. But before she could say anything, the door snapped shut behind her and she whirled around.

Felix was leaning with his back against the door, his wand in his hand.

"What's this about?" Cassiopeia hissed. "I came to warn you..."

"So it's true, isn't it?" Felix cut her short, his voice cold. "You and Lord Voldemort..."

"At first we couldn't believe it when they asked us to detain you, telling us you were of immense value in the battle against the Death Eaters. But the more they told us, the more everything started to make sense. Your constant refusal to help us..." Lance glared at her, his voice full of contempt.

Cassiopeia's eyes grew wide, realization dawning on her. She heard Felix move behind her and her gaze darted back to him just in time to see him taking two quick steps towards her, grabbing her left sleeve and intending to pull it up.

"Don't touch me," Cassiopeia snarled, her reflexes finally kicking in. She hadn't been spending so many years next to one of the best wizards alive without learning anything, after all. The next moment she held her wand in her hand and brandished it at Felix, sending him crashing into the wall behind him where he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Lance drew his wand, intending to curse her, and Cassiopeia flicked his wand at him as well but Ben beat her to it. With a swift movement he stunned Lance.

Cassiopeia's gaze darted to Ben's eyes, a look of surprise on her face. He was looking back at her.

"It wasn't me who told them, I swear."

Cassiopeia quickly collected herself. "I know." She flicked her wand at the door and locked it. "We have to leave, somehow. The Death Eaters are about to attack, and I guess now I know why. Come on." She went to the window and opened it, looking outside.

Ben eyed her uncomprehendingly. "Can't you just disapparate?"

Cassiopeia shook her head. "If Lance and Felix were involved in this, I can't trust anyone here anymore. They surely planned ahead and put protection on the building, preventing me from simply disapparating. If I still tried it, I might end up trapped. So we'll have to leave the uncomfortable way."

She grabbed Ben's arm and pulled him over to the window. "You have to come with me, it's not safe for you here either."

Ben nodded.

"We'll just jump and slow our fall. Ready?"

Ben nodded again, and they jumped to the deafening sound of a starting battle all around them.When they reached the ground they ran away from the building as fast as they could, not looking back once.

As soon as they reached the property's borders, Cassiopeia stopped. "Do you have everything you need? Once we leave, there'll be no going back."

Ben nodded again. "I have my backpack with me. I shrank it and took it with me after... after he visited."

"What?" Cassiopeia stopped dead in her tracks. "Who?"

"He... Lord Voldemort," Ben whispered. "Last night I found a strange note telling me to come to the back door at three in the night if I wanted to survive. Maybe I was stupid, but I went there. Unsurprisingly, I was stunned as soon as I arrived, and when I regained consciousness I was in that small forest behind the dorms. Well, and he was there. He did this crazy mind reading thing again, only so much stronger this time. And when he was done, he just told me to be ready to leave for good. Before I could say anything, he vanished." Ben shrugged. "All of that was so crazy, but I ran back to my dorm and packed all my belongings in my backpack and shrank it and put it in my pocket."

Cassiopeia stared at Ben until the sound of an exploding curse brought her back to reality. She quickly grabbed Ben's arm and pulled him into the darkness of Apparition.

x-x-x-x

When Tom arrived at Houlton Manor in the morning, he had an uncanny feeling that something was off. To his dismay the manor was empty. He quickly went along the corridors, checking the rooms, before he boomed into the silence, "Dissy!"

The small house elf appeared with a loud crack and bowed.

"Where's your mistress?" Tom snarled.

"Miss is not here. Miss left for work earlier this morning." The elf eyed him, a fearful look in her huge eyes.

Without paying further attention to the elf, Tom turned on the spot.

A moment later he was standing outside the entrance doors of the grey school building. He could hear the sound of the battle that was raging inside. For an instant he sensed the faint burning of the enchantment he had put on Cassiopeia's mark but before he could concentrate on her whereabouts the burning stopped. He suppressed a frown, purposely drowning out all thoughts about what that might mean.

Drawing his wand, he pulled his hood over his head and entered the building.

Tom quickly went from one room to the next, looking for any sign of Cassiopeia. But he didn't find her.

He made his way through the hallways, trying to avoid getting engaged in any fighting, occasionally throwing a curse at anyone who was stumbling into his way. When he finally reached the second floor, he recognized Cassiopeia's classroom, but it, too, was empty.

He clenched his teeth and went to the next classroom. To his surprise the door was locked. He pointed his wand at it and unlocked it before kicking the door open.

There were two wizards lying in the room. They were still alive. Their chests were rising and falling feebly. Tom scanned the room, noticing that the window was ajar. He felt his breath quicken slightly when he turned to the wizard closest to him, who lay hunched over the desk. He pointed his wand at him and entered his mind.

It didn't take him much effort to find the memory of Cassiopeia and Ben fighting against the two men. Tom's lip twitched just the slightest bit.

With a few quick strides he went to the window and looked down. This had to be how they had escaped. He turned back to the two men, flicking his wand at each of them with a sneer on his lips, before disapparating from the classroom.

x-x-x-x

Cassiopeia and Ben reappeared close to Houlton Manor. Cassiopeia scanned the surroundings carefully.

"Obviously they have not yet realized that I got away," she whispered. "Come on, we have to hurry, I don't know how long we have before they're going to show up here."

She ran to the entrance doors, Ben following her closely. When they stepped into the hall, Dissy appeared out of thin air.

"Miss missed his lordship," she stated.

"He was here?" Cassiopeia shot the elf a surprised glance.

"He left shortly ago."

Cassiopeia bit her lip. "I have to leave, Dissy. Someone's after me. I won't tell you where I'm going, so that you're not going to get into trouble. But if he returns, please tell him, I'm sorry."

The elf nodded.

Cassiopeia pulled her wand and summoned various things, stowing them in a magically extended bag.

When she was finished, she held out her arm for Ben, and the moment he touched her, she apparated them away.

x-x-x-x

Tom returned to Houlton Manor only to find the elf waiting in the hall.

Before Dissy could say anything, he asked, "Where is she?"

"Miss is gone."

"Where?" Tom furrowed his brows.

"Miss says Dissy better not knows so Dissy isn't in trouble." The elf hovered uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Miss says Dissy must tell you... miss is sorry."

Tom stared at the tiny house elf, trying to grasp what she was saying.

He clenched his jaw. So this was it. This was how it was going to end.

Cassiopeia had left.

Without anyone having to tell him, he knew she wasn't intending to return. And she had made sure there was no way he could find her if she didn't want him to.

Unconsciously, he waited for the familiar hatred and fury to set in, but surprisingly nothing happened. He felt only empty.

Why had she left? Why had she thought there were no other way? Why hadn't she come to him? He would have protected her, he would have made sure she stayed safe.

He slowly pulled his wand from his robes. He definitely didn't like her decision. But somewhere deep inside he knew that, in the end, her safety was all that mattered.

So if she had chosen to leave, intending to escape this war, he was at least going to give her the best protection he could. He would do what he was best at, what everyone would instantly believe, what it took to end her being of any interest to the revolutionary movement.

He turned to Dissy. "You had better go somewhere else. Things won't be too pleasant up here for a while."

The elf looked at him with wide eyes, before nodding and disappearing with another loud crack.

Tom tightened his grip around his wand. Then he brandished it swiftly at the interior of the mansion, muttering under his breath while slowly retreating to the door.

He left the house and walked a few feet away before turning back. He waved his wand at the building, making sure he had successfully preserved the interior so that it would only appear to be permanently damaged by the curse he intended to cast.

Then he threw a last glance at the manor he had spent so much time in, and with another swift movement of his wand he set the building on fire.

He watched the flames grow larger and shoot up into the air, his eyes expressionless. Any onlooker would believe they had burned the manor to ruins, leaving nothing behind, not even a chance for any survivors.

A smirk spread across his face when he finally pointed his wand at the sky and hissed, "Morsmordre."

x-x-x-x

Cassiopeia and Ben reappeared close to a thatched two story cottage near the coast. Cassiopeia cast Ben a sideways glance.

"Life's going to be different from now on." Her voice was calm and collected but Ben noticed a tone of sadness hidden underneath.

He eyed her curiously. "Why didn't you just go to him? He surely would have been able to offer you protection."

Cassiopeia remained silent for a long moment.

When she finally answered, her voice was barely more than a whisper.

"I'm afraid his protection would have been far too similar to imprisonment. And even though he would probably have been ready to protect _me,_ I'm not convinced that he would have been willing to protect both of us." She absentmindedly touched her stomach, a sad smile on her lips.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: So here's another chapter, I hope you enjoyed reading it! Thanks so much to all those who favourited, followed and reviewed! It means so much to me!!**


	35. Chapter 35

**Ten years later, 1981**

Tom returned to his lair in the late afternoon, when his gaze fell on a piece of parchment that lay crumpled next to the fireplace. He furrowed his brow and stared at the paper for an instant before he drew his wand and flicked it at the crumpled piece. The sheet soared into the air and smoothed itself out. It was empty.

Tom slowly walked closer, muttering different incantations under his breath, trying to make the parchment show its content.

None of them worked.

He looked at the paper for another moment before following on a sudden impulse. He carefully cut his hand with his wand and let his blood drip on the empty sheet. Then he healed the wound and watched the parchment expectantly.

Slowly a neat handwriting started to appear. It immediately caught his eye. It was his own handwriting.

Tom felt a hint of excitement in the pit of his stomach. He threw a closer look at the note. There were a place and a date written on the paper. Forbidden Forest, November 2nd, 1981.

Tom frowned. He stared at the writing for another moment. Then he went to his armchair and sat down.

It was almost two months until November 2nd. And yet he had to admit that he felt excited thinking about the adventure that lay ahead. It was finally going to happen, he was going to switch places with his other self.

Involuntarily, a memory popped into his mind. He leaned back in his chair, reluctantly recalling the promise he had made so many years ago.

He pressed his lips together. He had spent months searching for her, he had done everything he could think of to try and find her, but all his effort had been in vain.

At first he had signalled her through the mark, countless times, but she had never reacted, not even once. He had tried it until, finally, he had had to accept that obviously she didn't want to respond.

Subsequently he had tried every locating spell he had ever heard of. But she had given him no chance, and none of them had worked.

Even the enchantment he had put on her mark had been of no help. It had not been activated once in all those years, and while he knew that, luckily, this meant that she had never been in any severe danger, he had still regretted that, thus, he hadn't been able to find her.

At least, with her gone, there had been nothing left to stop him. He had smashed the revolutionary movement, violently and mercilessly, once again securing his power and ensuring that the world succumbed to his order.

Tom looked back at the note in his hand. He flicked his wand at the paper and sent it flying into the fireplace, lighting it with a nonverbal Incendio. Leaning forward, he propped up his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his hands, absentmindedly watching the flames.

After a moment the flames slowly started rearranging themselves. Tom sat up straight and furrowed his brows.

The flames were clearly forming the image of a house. He stared at the fire, unconsciously holding his breath. Following on a sudden intuition, he flicked his wand at the shelf behind him and summoned a map of the British Isles. He caught the map and walked closer to the fire. Sparks flew out of the fireplace and burned a hole into the map.

Tom narrowed his eyes, memorizing the location. Then he threw the map into the flames and watched it burn to ashes.

Tom stowed his wand, looking at the fire for another moment. There remained no trace of the previous happenings.

Taking a deep breath, Tom made up his mind, grabbed his cloak and left the room, disapparating to the place he had been shown on the map.

He reappeared at the coast, in the vicinity of a cosy cottage. His gaze lingered on the house for a long moment. It was the house he had seen in the flames. It looked warm and inviting. He cocked his head.

So this was where she had fled to. This was her idea of a life in peace. He slowly walked closer. When he reached the fence along the property's borders, he sensed the presence of strong magical protection wards. A smile tugged at his lips. It was her magic, there was no doubt about it. He would recognize it anywhere. He exhaled slowly. It felt like home.

He was just contemplating how to proceed when he heard voices approaching from the opposite direction. He quickly cast a disillusionment charm on himself and watched as two figures came into sight. It was a man in his early to mid twenties and a girl of maybe ten.

When they came closer, he recognized Ben. Involuntarily his gaze travelled to the girl. With slight astonishment he realized that she resembled Ben a lot, with her pale skin and wavy dark hair. But something about her strongly reminded him of Cassiopeia and the way she had been, when he had first seen her so many, many years ago.

Meanwhile Ben had reached the door. He opened it with a flick of his wand and turned to the girl who had stopped at a small bush and bent down. "Come on, Grace!"

The girl, Grace, looked up. "Just a moment, ok?"

Tom squinted across the distance, trying to see what Grace was doing. She was crouching next to a bush.

Finally, Ben called again, and Grace got up and followed him inside.

When the two had left, Tom quickly strode along the fence, just outside the protective wards, until he was the closest to the bush that he could get without entering the wards.

There was something moving under the bush, and he flicked his wrist at it, casting a summoning charm.

His eyes widened just the slightest bit when he saw what he had summoned.

It was a snake.

" _Did that girl talk to you?_ " Tom hissed in Parseltongue.

The snake wound around his hand and turned its head to look at him. " _Grace? Yes, she's my friend."_

Tom pursed his lips and lowered his hand, letting the snake slither back to the ground and watching it disappear under the bushes again.

Then he turned his attention back to the house, a strange mixture of excitement and irritation swirling through his body. He lifted the disillusionment charm and slowly approached the entrance. When he reached the door, he raised his hand and knocked.

For a moment nothing happened.

Then the door was opened and Cassiopeia stood there, her wand pointed at him. The moment she saw him, her hand fell back to her side and her eyes widened. "Tom?"

He hadn't heard anyone calling him that in over a decade. He looked back at her, his face expressionless.

Her voice was exactly the way he remembered it, and she looked not even one day older than when he had last seen her on the stairs of Houlton Manor so long ago. But then again he had known she wasn't aging anymore.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, stepping outside and carefully closing the door behind her.

"I came, intending to keep a promise I made a long time ago... Though it looks like you don't mind living with secrets these days." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

A faint smile crossed Cassiopeia's face. "I suppose you've seen Grace."

Tom made sure that his face remained the blank mask he was so good at producing when he asked, "Who is she?"

Cassiopeia looked back at him. "I think you already know who she is."

Tom's gaze locked with Cassiopeia's, his dark eyes boring into hers. "She is mine, isn't she?"

Cassiopeia held his gaze, a sincere look in her eyes. "There's no one else whose she could be."

Tom felt a long forgotten warmth spread inside, and quite unexpectedly the subliminal irritation that had been burning in his veins disappeared.

There was a long moment of silence before he said, "I saw her talking to a snake."

Cassiopeia eyed him thoughtfully. "She's a lot like her father, except for the empathy and love she's capable of." She paused. "Would you like to meet her?"

Tom pursed his lips. "Does she know who I am?"

Cassiopeia shook her head. To her surprise she saw something akin to disappointment flash through Tom's eyes, and she added, "But there's no doubt that she's going to know it once she's seen you." She smiled. "Just as I said, she's a lot like her father."

Tom looked back at her, and the years they had spent apart seemed to crumble to mere minutes. So much had happened, and yet so few had changed. Being with her felt just the same as before. His magic felt whole again, and he felt alive again in a way he had thought he had lost a long time ago.

"I've been looking for you, time and time again, for all those years. I've signalled you over and over again. I've tried to find you. Why didn't you answer, not even once?" He didn't quite manage to keep the accusation out of his voice, although he really tried.

Cassiopeia swallowed. "After I had left I realized what life could be like when there are no reglementations, no persecution, no war I never wanted. I realized that the world I had left behind wasn't the world I wanted to raise a child in, much less _your_ child."

Tom averted his gaze. He took a long time to reply. When he finally looked up again, his eyes were burning intensely. "Yes. I want to see her. You see, I came to tell you it's finally going to happen on November 2nd. I want to have seen her, before I go."

Cassiopeia drew a sharp breath. Then she nodded and opened the door behind her, stepping inside and letting Tom pass her.

Tom's gaze swept over the small living room they were standing in. The fireplace was lighted. In front of it stood a sofa and two comfortable armchairs. One of the armchairs was currently occupied by Grace who raised her head when they entered and looked back at him with curiosity. She didn't say anything, just looked at him, and he had the weird impression that she was looking right through him.

For the first time in his entire life Tom suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and yet his voice was still strangely hoarse when he said, "Hello, Grace."

Grace continued to look at him, her eyes as dark and bottomless as his. After a moment she said, " _Mum can't speak it, but you can, can't you?_ "

A smirk crossed Tom's features when he answered, " _Yes, I can."_

Grace's eyes sparkled with excitement. " _Mum doesn't like me talking in the snakes' language. I think she doesn't like not knowing what I say. But I like it._ "

Tom's smirk grew wider. " _Don't worry, it'll be our little secret. How did you know I can speak it?_ "

Grace's lips pulled into a smirk of her own, very much matching Tom's. _"I saw it in your eyes."_

Tom's eyes widened almost unnoticeably, and he quickly closed most parts of his mind, only shoving one thought to the front of his mind. He quirked an eyebrow and watched Grace curiously.

Grace giggled. " _You want to know if I can see that? Yes, I can. You know what? I like that game."_

Cassiopeia cleared her throat. "I think it's time to switch back to talking English, Grace. You've had your fun."

Grace pulled a face, and Tom grinned.

" _You're right, she hates it. She always has_ ," he hissed.

Grace giggled again, and Cassiopeia shot Tom a glare. "Same goes for you," she said drily.

Tom smirked back at her and Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow in return.

x-x-x-x

When Cassiopeia had gone to Grace's bedroom later that evening to say goodnight, Tom followed her. Outside Grace's door he stopped. He wasn't intending to listen in, but when he caught Grace's voice he couldn't help it.

"Why has he never come here before?" he heard Grace ask.

Tom raised an eyebrow and moved a little closer to the door, curious to hear Cassiopeia's reply.

"I'm sure you remember what I've always told you whenever you've asked about your father?"

"He's living in a place that's too far away, and he's very busy."

"Well, that's still true," Cassiopeia said quietly.

"But then why don't we go live with him?" Grace asked stubbornly. "I like him."

"Merlin knows, I like him, too. But it's not as easy as it sounds. You can't just go and live with him."

"Why not?"

There was a long silence. Just when Tom thought Cassiopeia wasn't going to reply anymore, he heard her saying, "You must understand that the way he has been tonight, the way we see him, that's not what he is always like. He is different when he is in his world, very different. And his world is just as different."

"But I don't want him to go away again." Grace sounded disappointed.

"I know, dear, I know," Cassiopeia said soothingly. When she continued talking, her voice was so low that Tom couldn't hear her anymore.

He pressed his lips together and walked a few steps along the corridor before he leaned against the wall, waiting for Cassiopeia to finally leave the room.

When she closed the door behind her, he said into the silence, "She's right. You should come back with me."

Cassiopeia gave a jerk and turned around. Seeing him standing in the corridor, she slowly walked over to him and leaned against the opposite wall. She shook her head. "No."

"Why not? You're my family." He arranged his features into a look of innocence.

"Obviously you never wanted a family." Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow.

"But obviously I still have one," he retorted.

"Obviously you're not living the kind of life that's compatible with having a family," Cassiopeia said drily.

Tom smirked. Then he pursed his lips. "No, honestly, come back with me."

Cassiopeia looked back at him. There was sadness ringing in her voice when she said, "We can't, Tom. I don't want to return to that world. I don't want Grace to live there."

"But she'll be living there anyways as soon as she'll be going to Hogwarts." Tom shrugged.

Cassiopeia didn't reply.

Tom raised his eyebrows. "You don't intend to send her to Hogwarts, do you? But it's obligatory."

Cassiopeia cocked her head. "I know, but I'm convinced that her father is in the position to make an exception."

"Why should I want to do that?" Tom asked, his voice full of surprise.

"I can think of many reasons. But the main one surely is that being your daughter is extremely dangerous. I won't send her anywhere where I can't protect her." She paused. "You can come visit whenever you like, you can stay as long as you like. There's only one condition. You have to keep with the rules. I don't want her to believe that it's more important to know how to cast an Unforgivable Curse than to know how to love." Cassiopeia looked him straight in the eyes, daring him to contradict her.

Tom held her gaze. He wanted to retort something about power and weakness but deep inside he knew he didn't believe it anymore.

There was a long moment of silence.

Then he pushed away from the wall and leaned forward against the wall behind her, one hand on either side of her head. His voice was rough when he said, "I've been waiting for this moment so long. Honestly, I hadn't been expecting we would be talking about the future of a child, but I don't mind. I just want you back. I've been missing you for too long."

Cassiopeia looked into his eyes, into this beautiful darkness that had kept haunting her in her dreams so many nights this past decade, and she knew she wanted him back just the same.

She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him close until she could finally feel his lips on hers, tasting their warmth and softness again, wondering why she had deliberately chosen to live without this for so many years.

The moment his lips finally touched hers, Tom knew he was never going to let her leave again. He pulled her away from the wall, deepening the kiss before shortly pulling away.

"Where's your bedroom?" he breathed.

Cassiopeia nodded towards the door at the end of the corridor. Tom pulled her close, his lips back on hers, his hands around her waist, and steered them towards her bedroom.

As soon as he had closed the door behind them, locking it with a flick of his wrist and casting a non-verbal silencing charm with another, he pushed her down on the bed, his breath hot on her skin.

Cassiopeia felt her heart beating in a way she had never felt it beat before, and she was longing for him to get closer. She pulled off his shirt and ran her fingers over his bare chest while he pushed hard against her, stripping off her clothes.

When their gazes met, they could see the passion and desire burning in each other's eyes, and it felt like they had never been apart.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks so much for reading!! Thanks for favouriting, following and reviewing, you really make my day!!**


	36. Chapter 36

When Tom woke up, it was in the middle of the night. He cast a glance at Cassiopeia who was sleeping soundly, her head resting against his side. He carefully pulled away and sat up.

When he had got fully dressed, he looked at her sleeping form and fumbled for his wand. Then he noiselessly opened the door and went to Grace's room.

She was obviously fast asleep. For a moment he watched her, a bunch of dark hair sprawled on the pillow, her blanket drawn all the way up to her nose. A smile crossed his face, and there was an inexplicable feeling of pride deep inside of him.

He pointed his wand at her and silently brandished it with a fluid movement, muttering under his breath. A silvery light left his wand and encased her body before it died away. Grace stirred in her sleep, and Tom quickly retreated to the door.

He went down the stairs and left the house, disapparating as soon as he was outside the protective wards.

x-x-x-x

Cassiopeia woke to the sound of the ocean splashing against the cliffs. She opened her eyes. The sun had barely risen and the sky was a beautiful violet.

She sat up and glanced around the room. Tom's clothes were gone and so was he. Somehow she wasn't surprised.

Suddenly a thought came to her mind and she jumped up from her bed and hurried to Grace's room, quickly opening the door and looking inside. When she saw Grace sleeping quietly in her bed, she relaxed and exhaled slowly.

She closed the door again and went downstairs to prepare breakfast.

Grace appeared in the living room a while later, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Ben entered the room behind her and stifled a yawn.

"Where is he?" The excitement in Grace's voice matched the one gleaming in her eyes.

"Yes, where is he?" Ben asked, his voice a little wary.

Cassiopeia shrugged. "He's gone."

Without looking at Grace she could sense her daughter's mood change.

"What did you say to him? What did you do to make him go away again?" Grace asked accusingly.

Cassiopeia turned around and raised her eyebrows. "Nothing."

"I only had one evening and you scared him away. That's unfair."

Ben nearly choked on his bagel but he tried to cover it up with a cough.

Grace glowered at him. "What's so funny about that?"

Ben swallowed. "It's hard imagining anyone scaring him away." His voice trailed off when he saw Cassiopeia shooting him a glare.

"You know him?" Grace's voice suddenly was full of excitement again.

"Who doesn't?" Ben retorted before he could stop himself, earning him another glare.

"Tell me about him." Grace eyed Ben curiously.

When she narrowed her eyes at him, Ben shook his head. Ever since they had come to live in this cottage, Cassiopeia had taught him Occlumency, and he had become really good at it. Originally meant to keep them safe in case anyone followed them, it had turned out to be extremely useful when Grace had shown the first signs of being able of doing Legilimency.

Ben shot her a stern look. "Stop it, Grace. Stop trying to read my mind. It's not up to me to tell you about him." He turned to Cassiopeia. "But I think it may finally be time to put the cards on the table. Grace is old enough. She ought to know who he is. She ought to know why we left. It would only be fair, don't you think?"

Cassiopeia eyed Ben for a long moment. Grace had her gaze turned towards her, waiting impatiently for her answer.

Finally Cassiopeia sighed. "Fine. I'll tell you about him."

Grace jumped up from her seat and followed Cassiopeia to the sofa where she sat down and pulled up her feet, looking at Cassiopeia, her eyes once again sparkling with excitement.

Cassiopeia inhaled deeply. Then she turned to Grace. "When I first met your father we were about your age, only a little older. We went to school together."

"You went to Hogwarts? With him?" Grace interjected excitedly.

Cassiopeia nodded. "Yes. It was a great time. I can't deny that the unbelievablestrength and this powerful vibration of his magic have been fascinating me ever since I first stood close to him. And then, one day, I decided to talk to him."

"What did you say?" Grace couldn't hide her curiosity.

Cassiopeia pursed her lips. "I asked him... something." She averted her gaze.

"Like a question about your homework?"

"Something... similar," Cassiopeia said evasively and looked back at Grace. "However, as time went by we spent more and more time together..."

"And you fell in love with each other? Why didn't you get married?" Grace asked enthusiastically.

A snorting noise came from the table where Ben was still sitting, and Grace turned around, throwing him a disapproving look.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Cassiopeia looked down at her hands. "Unfortunately, it's not that easy. Just as I said, he is different from most people. You see, Grace, not all wizards are good. Not all use their power the way they should. Some of them go bad. Some of them do things which are ugly and evil. Some of them simply don't care enough."

Grace looked at Cassiopeia, her eyes suddenly turning sincere.

"There exists a kind of magic that offers more power, more strength, more possibilities than the usual magic, but it also contains more danger, more risk, more destruction. Those are the Dark Arts." Cassiopeia glanced at Grace who was listening intently, her eyes glued to Cassiopeia's face. Cassiopeia swallowed. "Your father is the most powerful wizard I know. He's probably one of the most powerful wizards alive." She bit her lip. "Unfortunately, he certainly also is one of the most dangerous Dark Wizards of all time."

Grace stared back at her. "But how can that be true? He was so funny and easygoing yesterday."

"He's a great actor," Ben huffed.

Cassiopeia pursed her lips again. "He certainly is a great actor but he wasn't acting yesterday. He can be funny and easygoing if he wants to be. He can be different. I wouldn't have fallen in love with him, I wouldn't have stayed with him for so many, many years, if he was nothing but evil. There's light inside of him but it only shows to very few, actually maybe we are the only ones who see it."

"You certainly are," Ben interjected again, his tone dry.

"But why did you leave him if he was different for you?"

"Things changed." Cassiopeia shook her head. "I couldn't stay any longer." Her voice was sad.

"Will he... will he return here?" Grace asked, uncertainty ringing in her voice.

Cassiopeia looked at her, the faint trace of a smile creeping on her face. "He will, you can trust me, now that he knows where to find us, he'll be back."

x-x-x-x

It was early afternoon and Grace was sitting on the window sill, watching the path that led to the entrance. She had been sitting there for hours, not moving once.

Cassiopeia glanced at her and suppressed a sigh. Then she walked over to Grace and put an arm around her.

"You don't have to keep waiting here. I'm sure he won't use the entrance door again anyways."

Grace looked up at her. "But how is he going to come back then? I thought it's not possible to apparate in here. Only you can do that."

The ghost of a smile crossed Cassiopeia's features. "Oh, there are hardly any protective wards he hasn't managed to break through. I don't doubt that he'll be able to apparate in here."

Grace looked back at her, pondering her words. Then she hopped off the window sill and left forher room.

Cassiopeia eyed the front yard absentmindedly for another moment before taking a seat in the armchair close to the fire.

She grabbed the book that was lying on the coffee table and started to read.

After a while a low crack suddenly disrupted the silence. Looking up, she saw Tom standing close to the door, gazing back at her.

Cassiopeia closed the book and put it back on the coffee table next to her.

"Grace has been waiting for you the whole day, wishing you'd come back." Her voice was casual.

"Actually I was hoping that _you_ had been waiting for me, wishing I'd come back." Tom smirked.

Cassiopeia returned his smirk. "I didn't have to _wish_. I knew you would. It didn't take any skills in Legilimency to read it in your eyes last night."

Tom's eyes were gleaming darkly and his smirk intensified. "What shall I say? You can't deny that ten years is a mighty long time."

"I'm sure Bellatrix was more than ready to fill the gap and take my place," Cassiopeia stated drily.

Tom raised an eyebrow. "She probably would have." He slowly walked over to her. When he was standing in front of her, he pulled her up from her seat. "But this is not about somehow filling a gap. I don't _need_ anyone. But I want you."

He leaned closer and kissed her, his hands slowly travelling down her back and pulling her close. When he felt her responding to his kiss, he tightened his grip around her waist, intending to apparate them to her bedroom, but suddenly a voice broke the silence.

"I thought you didn't get along anymore." Grace sounded deeply surprised.

Tom pulled away from Cassiopeia and turned his head, his arms still wrapped tightly around her waist. He raised an eyebrow and eyed Grace, without saying anything.

Cassiopeia felt her cheeks blush slightly and carefully pushed him a little away, looking at Grace. "But I never said anything like that."

Grace's eyes travelled between the two of them. "But why would you leave him if you still get along?"

Tom quirked an eyebrow at Cassiopeia and a smirk tugged at his lips. "Yes, why would you leave me then?"

Cassiopeia shot him a glare but remained silent. The smirk spread across Tom's face, and he let go of Cassiopeia and turned back to Grace, shoving his hands in his pockets and studying her face for a moment before he said, "Yes, you are right, that doesn't make any sense."

Grace's eyes darted to his face, a look of utter surprise on her features.

Tom chuckled, "Of course I can do it, who did you think you inherited all this magical talent from?"

Cassiopeia elbowed him in the side. "Mind what you're saying."

Tom smirked, "But just look at her magic. She can do basic Legilimency, and she's not even got a wand yet. I think the origin of her magical power is quite obvious."

"Are you gonna get me a wand and teach me to get better?" Grace asked enthusiastically.

Tom opened his mouth to respond but Cassiopeia beat him to it. "You'll get a wand when every child gets one."

For a moment Cassiopeia had the impression that Tom was about to disagree but then he closed his mouth again and simply nodded.

A look of disappointment crossed Grace's features but she didn't argue.

"Can you show me anything else which I don't need a wand for?" she asked, her voice sounding a little stubborn.

Tom cocked his head. "I can show you lots of things."

Grace beamed at him. "Would you like to come to my room?"

Tom cast a glance at Cassiopeia. She gazed back at him, the look in her eyes clearly telling him to keep with the rules. He nodded almost unnoticeably. Then he turned back to Grace. "Of course."

He was slightly taken by surprise when Grace unexpectedly grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room, but it felt oddly good.

Cassiopeia watched them leave. When she saw Tom reacting to Grace's touch, she couldn't suppress a smile. After all those years there was still hope.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks so much for reading and sharing your thoughts!!**


	37. Chapter 37

It was November 2nd. Tom was standing in the Forbidden Forest, the time-turner in his hands, wondering what was going to happen. There was a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't quite place.

His thoughts travelled back to the small cottage by the ocean he had left a few hours earlier.

He had spent most of the past two months there, and these few weeks had been so completely different from everything he had known his entire life.

For once and for the first time ever, there had been no hatred swirling inside of him. He had finally been able to feel truly at ease.

The longer he had been around Grace, the more he had come to realize how easily she combined his magical talent with Cassiopeia's ability of feeling and caring, and as time had gone by a thought had come creeping into his mind.

If Cassiopeia was right, if combining his magic with this kind of emotion could render it more powerful, then Grace would one day have the capability of outdoing him.

To his utter surprise this thought had neither scared nor appalled him or even enraged him in any way. Despite the possible prospect of finally meeting his match, he only felt proud. It was a weird feeling but there was no denying that he liked it.

The more he had thought about it, the more he had realized that he was at a loss to understand what had happened. He had never wanted to have a child, he had never even thought about it. And even though they had never talked about it, he was certain that Cassiopeia had known that.

Yet all their precautions had obviously failed them, and he could only guess that things had started to be different ever since Cassiopeia's body had stopped aging. Tom frowned. There wasn't any sense in contemplating anyway. Things now were the way they were.

He looked back at the small device in his hand. It was finally time to go.

He took a deep breath and carefully turned the rings. Then he exhaled and let go.

x-x-x-x

Tom stepped out from behind the trees. He glanced at the spot where he had just witnessed his younger self disappear.

He ran a hand through his hair. So this was it. He was back. Back at the point in time when he had left.

There was no denying that things were a whole lot different now. His thoughts briefly flew back to the Halloween night that had changed everything. What a wreck he had been then. A smile spread across his face. It felt good to have his sharp mind back.

He cast a last glance around the forest, before he apparated to his lair where he slowly strolled through all those rooms he had not been able to enter for 38 long years. It had been a long time, a very long time that he had had to hide away, watching someone else leading his life, watching someone else being in all those places where he should have been.

Finally he pulled his wand from his pocket and signalled Cassiopeia, wondering if she would answer his summoning.

It took quite a while, and he was already about to assume that she wasn't going to react when suddenly a soft crack tore the silence and Cassiopeia appeared near the doorway.

Tom got up from his armchair but then hesitated and didn't move any further.

For a moment they both just stood there, looking at each other.

Finally Cassiopeia asked, "So it worked?"

Tom quirked an eyebrow. "Seeing as we're still here and the world hasn't collapsed, I guess it seems it worked." He shrugged.

Cassiopeia moved a step forward, her eyes fixed on him. Silence filled the living room of his lair again.

After a moment Cassiopeia exhaled slowly. "You don't look any different."

A smirk crossed Tom's face. Then his features turned sincere again. "It's still me."

"Technically you must be... how many? 38 ? years older than me now?" Her voice was questioning. "But you don't look like it."

The smirk crept back on Tom's face. "You're right. But obviously there are not only downsides of Horcruxes."

Cassiopeia's lip twitched. Then she cocked her head, abruptly changing the subject.

"It was you who knew where to find me, wasn't it? I've been wrecking my brain for an explanation how you knew where I was. I never told anyone about that house."

Tom smirked. "Well, _this time_. But originally, uhm... you know, I spent some time working at Borgin and Burkes and I came across an artefact that your father had traded with them years ago. When I asked you about it, you told me... about that house on the ocean."

Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow.

Tom looked back at her. "When you left and there was no way to find you, I knew where you had gone."

"Why didn't you interfere earlier?"

Tom averted his gaze. "I thought you needed a break." He looked down at his hands holding his wand. "Both of us needed a break."

Cassiopeia eyed him attentively, taking in his words. Suddenly she drew a sharp breath, when realization hit her. "Really? You were afraid you might actually have given up on this war if we had stayed together, weren't you? You were afraid you might have seen sense at last..." Her voice trailed away.

Tom kept his gaze fixed on his wand. Then he nodded. "Yes, I feared your influence might have distracted me from my goals. After all, I surely haven't taken all these risks to end up raising a baby somewhere."

Cassiopeia snorted, a bitter smile crossing her face. "What made you change your mind? You didn't have to interfere now. You could have switched places and would never have had to see me again."

Tom pursed his lips. "Surely, I could have. But there was this promise about telling you when..." He stopped mid-sentence and looked back at her. "I owe you more than you'd believe." He stowed his wand in his robes, leaving his last statement hanging in the air between them. Cassiopeia eyed him slightly incredulously. Tom slowly walked closer until he was standing in front of her. "Things are different from what they used to be. Things are better. I'm no fool. I know why they are better."

Cassiopeia held his gaze. "What happened that first time around?"

"You know that I can't tell you."

"Why not? The point about not telling anyone is that nobody should know about the time-traveller. But I already know. Where's the harm in telling me what happened originally?"

Tom continued to look back at her, and Cassiopeia could tell that his mind was racing. She quirked an eyebrow.

"It's not that you _can't_ tell me. It's rather that you don't _want_ to tell me, isn't it?"

Tom couldn't suppress a smirk. "Why do you even ask, when you've always been able to see through me? You know, I think I've felt every possible way about that ability of yours over the years, from fascinated to irritated, but mainly it's always been extremely intriguing."

With a quick movement he leaned closer to her and pressed his lips against hers, relishing her still so familiar warmth.

Cassiopeia was slightly taken by surprise but she felt herself responding to his kiss. His magic was radiating from him, and there was no doubt that the aura of his magic was even more powerful than before. The 38 years that he had lived twice might not be showing on his face but they certainly were evident in his magic's vibration of power and experience.

Cassiopeia closed her eyes, drowning out all thoughts of any timelines and unanswered questions, and just let herself fall into the comforting security of his embrace.

x-x-x-x

 **Author's note: Thanks for reading! I wish you all a Merry Christmas! Please review, your feedback is always such a wonderful gift :)**


	38. Chapter 38

**Author's note: I know it's been a long time since the last update and I'm really sorry for the long wait. There are only a few chapters left till the end, and I hope to be able to update regularly again. Thanks for reading :)**

Grace was sitting on the window sill of her room, her legs drawn up, her arms wrapped around them, her chin resting on her knees. She was looking out of the window, her eyes fixed on the two figures that were standing a little away, obviously engaged in an argument.

Grace squinted across the distance, trying to make out what they were saying but as they had turned their sides towards her she couldn't guess any words.

She bit her lip. Surely it was about the letter that had arrived from Hogwarts the day before. When her mother had seen the envelope she had turned paler than usual. And when her father had shown up later that day she had wordlessly shoved the letter over to him, eying him with this uncomfortably stern look Grace had seen on her mother's face a lot lately.

A frown spread across the girl's features. She really didn't understand what bothered her mother about that letter. From all she had ever told her she had loved going to school, and obviously she had loved going to Hogwarts. But then why didn't she like the thought of sending her there?

Grace threw another glance at Tom and Cassiopeia who were still standing in the front yard. Then she made up her mind and hopped off the window sill.

She tiptoed down the stairs and left the house through the back door, sneaking into the garden and rounding the house while carefully paying attention that she approached Tom and Cassiopeia as noiselessly as she could. When she was finally within earshot she hid behind a bush and tried to listen in to the conversation.

"But Hogwarts is a great place. I'd say it's the best place I've ever been to. I really don't see why I should deprive her of the privilege of being educated there." Tom's voice was devoid of any emotion and yet Grace could tell that he was annoyed.

Cassiopeia narrowed her eyes. There was a hint of bitterness in her voice when she replied, "Surely Hogwarts used to be great. But that was before you let your cronies infiltrate the school with their blind hatred and brainless beliefs. Hogwarts as it is now is only set up to brainwash people and subject them to your power and your followers' beliefs. I don't like that, and you know that. And I certainly don't want Grace to be taught any of those supremacy idiocies." She paused. Then, suddenly, a smirk crossed her features, and she cocked her head. "But that doesn't mean there's no solution. If you really want Grace to study at Hogwarts, you just have to end this madness."

"What?" Tom's voice was slightly higher-pitched than usual, and there was a hint of incredulity on his otherwise blank features.

Cassiopeia held his gaze. "End this stupid pureblood supremacy nonsense. End the violent persecution and unjustified oppression of Muggleborns. End all those attacks and this indiscriminate killing of those who oppose you."

Tom quirked an eyebrow. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly when he answered, his voice mocking now, "You're certainly aware that I can't. That's the core of my power."

Cassiopeia looked back at him, a faint trace of pity in her eyes. Then she shrugged. "Surely that's sad enough. But you've had your go at this domination you've always craved so badly. You've had your share of power. You've had it your way. Was it worth all the sacrifices? I don't know what happened in that original timeline of yours but obviously it didn't go too well or otherwise I don't think you would have taken the trouble to come back to change things. Maybe it's time to make a change now. Maybe it's time to rethink your priorities. You're perfectly aware that I never believed in this pureblood supremacy nonsense, and as far as you are concerned, if you're honest with yourself, I'm sure you never believed in it either. After all, you yourself are the perfect example that it doesn't take pure blood to excel in magic. There are other ways to be great, different ones, better ones."

Much to Cassiopeia's surprise Tom wordlessly stared back at her. She suppressed a frown. Actually, she had expected him to laugh at her, laugh at her ridiculous suggestion of simply ending the enforcement of his realm's fundamental beliefs.

Instead Cassiopeia could tell that for the first time ever he was actually taking her words into account. For the first time ever he seemed to be truly thinking about making a change. With a start she realized that for the first time ever there was a chance that she had finally gotten through to him. Cassiopeia continued to look at him, trying to read his face, trying to guess his thoughts, but as usual his features didn't give away anything.

Suddenly there was a rustling noise inthe vicinity. Without breaking his eye contact with Cassiopeia Tom raised his eyebrow again and said, his voice even, "That's not appropriate, trying to listen in to other people's conversations, Grace. Why do you think we went outside to have this little chat?"

Cassiopeia tore her gaze away from Tom's eyes and looked over his shoulder, just in time to watch Grace emerge from behind a bush a little away from them. The girl's pale face was slightly blushed. She slowly approached them.

Grace eyed Tom and Cassiopeia carefully and a smirk crossed her face. "Well, because you didn't want me to overhear you, I assume." Her voice was cheeky. "You should have tried harder then, though." She smirked at Tom and cocked her head. "Am I going to go to Hogwarts?"

Tom wordlessly looked back at her. He felt Cassiopeia's gaze on him and drew in a deep breath. There was no way he could answer that question now. He had to think this through. He needed time. He exhaled sharply and without any further explanation he abruptly turned on the spot and was gone.

Grace's eyes widenend and she looked at Cassiopeia. "What...why did he leave?"

Cassiopeia glanced at Grace and the ghost of a smile flashed across her face. "Well, that's his way of facing problems he cannot solve with a curse." She shrugged. "But at least that means he couldn't answer your question right away. So that's probably about the best reaction you could get."

Momentarily, Cassiopeia had the impression that Grace was about to retort something, but then the girl closed her mouth again and followed her mother back into the cottage.


	39. Chapter 39

Tom reappeared in the middle of his living room. He glanced around, looking at nothing in particular, and his hand balled into a fist.

What on earth had just happened? Had Cassiopeia honestly just suggested that he should throw away his power to make a little girl attend Hogwarts? Why hadn't he just laughed at her? Why on earth had he even taken her words into consideration, actually thinking about it, why the hell was he taking them into consideration now?

This was foolish, all of it. He was exactly where he had always wanted to be. He had everything he had always craved for. He surely wasn't about to change anything when things were exactly the way he had wanted them to be. There was absolutely no reason why he would ever willingly give up on the power he had... or was there? Tom pursed his lips.

Of all the crazy things Cassiopeia had said to him, she had at least been right with one thing, he had to give her that. She had been right that he had had things his way... had even had them his way twice. But what good had it done him?

He definitely had had quite a number of years of power the first time around, and there was no doubt that he had had even more years and more power this time.

And yet, with some reluctance he had to admit that despite having achieved everything he had wanted, it hadn't provided him with the satisfaction he had expected to feel. It hadn't made him happy. It hadn't made him proud. It hadn't made him whole. And, most of all, it hadn't made him feel anything at all.

Instead, it had been something completely different that had achieved this, something he had never taken into account... The image of a little girl with dark hair and pale features flashed through his mind. Tom clenched his teeth. As if the inexplicably comfortable way he had always felt around Cassiopeia hadn't been strange enough. Now the way he felt about Grace was even more inexplicable.

Tom slowly strolled over to his armchair and sat down. Absentmindedly he lit the fire with his wand. He couldn't quite believe that he was actually thinking about how to tell his Death Eaters that he intended to make a change in their course of action. He shook his head and furrowed his brow. They would surely think he had lost his mind. And yet, deep inside he already knew that he was ready to follow through with whatever it took to be with Cassiopeia and Grace for good.

After all, Cassiopeia was right. There were other ways to use his power. The domination he had always craved so badly hadn't given him anything in the end. He didn't need it. His magic was powerful, he was immortal, and honestly he didn't give a damn about what happened to any Mudblood witches and wizards. He didn't have to consort with them if he didn't want to. And, of course, he didn't want to. But that didn't imply that he needed to kill them. He didn't need to rid the world of nameless Muggles and Mudbloods.

He had already paid back the ones who had done him wrong a long time ago. He had got his revenge.

He leaned forward and propped his elbows up on his knees, resting his chin on his hands and watching the flames of the fire. He would need all his skills in manipulation and acting if he wanted to get out of this regime of terror he had built up without contradicting himself or appearing weak.

x-x-x-x

Tom looked back at his Death Eaters' faces. Incredulity was painted across the features of every single one of them although they tried hard to mask it.

"I think I misunderstood you, my lord," Avery said at last, his voice flat.

Tom glanced at him and a smirk crossed his face. "No, Avery, you didn't. We won't act against the blood traitors that have been supporting these Mudbloods. It's not worth it."

"But, my lord, that's what we've been doing for years. If we stop it now, where's the sense?" Lestrange raised an eyebrow.

Tom pursed his lips. "You're very right. We've been doing it for years and still the blood treason hasn't stopped. Despite all our efforts we haven't succeeded in convincing the blood traitors of any pure-blood supremacy. Instead we have only spilled too much pure wizarding blood in the attempt to teach others a lesson they still refuse to learn. It's fruitless. I've been thinking about a different approach a lot lately and I have come up with a plan."

Instantly a look of surprise and interest appeared on the faces of his followers and Tom suppressed a smirk. They really had always been remarkably easy to manipulate.

x-x-x-x

When Tom returned to Cassiopeia's cottage that evening, he felt more content than he had felt in a long time. When he entered the living room, Cassiopeia was lying on the couch, reading. She turned to look at him.

Tom slowly strode over to her. "I had a meeting today." His voice was light.

Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows the slightest bit, a questioning look in her eyes. When Tom didn't elaborate any further, she sat up and cocked her head. "Really, did you?"

Tom chuckled. "I suppose it's an understatement to say the others were in for quite a surprise. But in the end they took it rather well. Seems I haven't lost my skills."

Cassiopeia stared back at him, trying to determine if he had really meant to say what she thought he had. His face was almost as blank as usual, but his eyes told her all she needed to know.

And for once she was lost for words. After all, it was hard to believe. After all those years, after all her attempts to persuade him, had he really taken a step away from the pointless violence that he and his Death Eaters had spread throughout the last decades?

Slowly, a smile spread across her features. Maybe now things would finally become easier. Maybe now they would get the chance to lead a normal life at last.

 **Author's note: So here's another chapter. I know it's rather short, but we're only one chapter away from the ending now. So... be prepared ;-) As always, thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts!!**


	40. Chapter 40

**Author's note:** **So this is it - the last chapter of the story!** **I thank you all so much for reading and keeping with the story for so long! I've had so much fun writing it and I really hope you've had as much fun reading it!** **I would have loved to continue writing but it seems my inspiration has somehow run dry.** **I've had the ending written from the very beginning, so now here we go...**

If Cassiopeia was honest she had always known there wasn't going to be any happily ever after.

She had known it from the very beginning.

And still, somewhere deep inside, she had harboured the hope that even in darkness there might exist happiness. Lasting happiness.

But darkness was consuming.

Darkness was inexorable.

And darkness was lasting. Everlasting.

Sadly, right now, the darkness she was facing wasn't dark at all, it was actually coloured rather threateningly by the lights of all the curses that were illuminating the cottage.

Cassiopeia gripped her wand tightly, trying to gain the upper hand against the four hooded opponents that had somehow blown their way into her peaceful home.

She didn't know why they had come although, of course, she had a vague idea that Tom's ruthless life had come haunting her once again. She neither knew who they were nor how they had found her, how they had found this secret hiding place that was supposed to be unknown to others. But in the end it didn't actually matter anyways. They were here and their intentions were obvious. They had come to destroy.

When they had hit the house, she had barely had time to make sure Ben and Grace were able to apparate away safely. But, thus, she hadn't been able to leave herself before the four men had stood opposite her.

Cassiopeia pressed her lips together. Where was Tom when she needed him? This was _his_ fight, this was _his_ war that had closed in on her so mercilessly yet again when she had just started to dare thinking that things might finally turn into a different direction.

She closed her eyes. There was no different direction. Darkness was consuming. Darkness was inexorable.

And darkness was lasting. Everlasting.

x-x-x-x

Tom tried to apparate to Cassiopeia but he couldn't enter the cottage. He scowled. Obviously, additional wards had been put on the house, preventing him from going inside. Tom felt his wrath spread throughout his body, mixed with another feeling he had never experienced before. It was anxiety.

Tom clenched his teeth. He pulled his wand from his robes and summoned his Death Eaters. The moments seemed to stretch endlessly before they finally appeared at his side. When they had gathered around him he hissed through gritted teeth, "Defend this place."

His knights nodded and left as silently as they had arrived.

Tom concentrated on taking down the wards that prevented him from apparating to Cassiopeia. He quickly eliminated one after the other before he finally broke through the last and apparated inside.

He found her immediately. She was on the upper floor, half sitting, half lying behind the corner of the corridor that led to the stairs. Around the corner he spotted four unconscious bodies lying sprawled on the stairs.

Tom's gaze shot at Cassiopeia. She had her wand in one hand and was clutching her body with the other. Her face was ashen and her eyes were hollow. When she saw him, the ghost of a smile crossed her face but it was instantly replaced by a pained flinch and Tom saw tears building up in her eyes. His jaw clenched and with a few strides he was next to her.

"They hit me," she whispered, her voice thick.

Tom's gaze shot at her stomach where she was clutching her body tightly. Outwardly he couldn't make out a wound. He knelt down beside her and carefully lifted her arm from her body. The skin was intact. He furrowed his brow. The damage had to be inside. He felt her shaking from pain and cold.

"I'm dying, Tom. I can feel it." She swallowed. "Promise me that you'll protect Grace, promise me that you'll take good care of her."

"Of course I'll do, but you're not dying," Tom snarled. "I will stop it. I will heal you. I only need to figure out which curse they hit you with."

A sad look crossed Cassiopeia's features. "I wish you could. But I don't have that much time left. I can feel my blood dripping from my veins inside and every drop hurts worse than the last." She paused to breathe hard. Tom could tell how much strength talking cost her. "I'm dying and you won't be able to prevent it." She cringed, her face contorting with agony. "It's hurting." She coughed. "I never knew anything could hurt so much."

Tom saw a tear leave her eye and slowly run down her cheek. He pressed his lips together.

Cassiopeia suddenly raised her head and looked into his eyes. "Make this pain go away, Tom." Her voice was painstricken. "Make it end."

Tom stared back at her, distantly grasping what she was implying. "I can't," he whispered hoarsely.

Cassiopeia kept looking at him, her eyes silently pleading with him. With a lot of effort she whispered, "You can. Please don't make me suffer this to the end, Tom, end it for me."

Tom's eyes narrowed. "No, you can't ask that from me."

Cassiopeia bit her lip. "You've ended countless lives."

"None of them mattered," Tom cut her short.

Cassiopeia's eyes filled with tears again. "You know how to make it quick and painless. Please, don't have me take the slow and painful way."

Tom vehemently shook his head.

Cassiopeia looked back at him, tears now leaving her eyes. "I truly loved every moment I had with you, Tom. I really didn't want it to end like this. I didn't want to get hit by that curse but four opponents obviously were too many and one second of inattention was too much." Her voice broke. "Please, if you ever cared for me in any way, make this pain end."

Her eyes were full of agony and still, beneath all the pain, they were still soothing and Tom could see the warmth that had always been so special to him. He felt his stomach clench in a way he had never felt before. He slowly leaned forward.

"I don't want this. I don't want you to leave me." He gently pressed his lips against hers, taking in the fading warmth of her skin. He inhaled deeply and carefully wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close. He felt Cassiopeia weakly responding to his kiss. She was still trembling and he knew that she was hurting badly. He drew another deep breath wondering if there was really no other way.

Then he exhaled slowly. He kept his lips firmly on hers, his left arm still wrapped tightly around her, his right hand now slowly pointing his wand at her temple.

"I want you to know that I only do this because I care," he whispered.

Cassiopeia looked him in the eyes again. "I love you, I always did. Just never forget," she breathed, her voice barely audible anymore.

A genuine smile flashed across Tom's face before he pressed his lips against hers again and closed his eyes.

He didn't want to see the light that left his wand. He didn't want to see his curse hit her. He didn't want to see her eyes cloud over, the light finally fading from them.

He kept holding her close to him even after her body had gone limp. When he finally got up, he lifted her up in his arms.

He drew another deep breath and let his wrath take over at last. He took a moment to relish the familiar feeling and focussed on the unbounded power of his magic that was swirling forcefully around him, ready to provide him the deathly revenge he so deeply craved for.

Once again his eyes were burning with hatred and fury. He would make the world pay for this, he would make them pay for his loss.

He quickly signalled his Death Eaters to leave before he brandished his wand once again. A moment later he apparated away, the cottage exploding behind him in a devastating storm of fire, blasting away every living being that was anywhere near.

Tom reappeared at his lair with a crack. For a moment he just stood there, Cassiopeia's motionless body still in his arms, unconsciously gripping her tightly. He pressed her hard against his chest. She felt so uncharacteristically cold and distant. Tom gritted his teeth. The longer he kept holding her, the more the cold seemed to be creeping into his own body, making him feel just as cold and damp.

He slowly carried her upstairs to the deserted bedroom next to his. When he kicked the door open he was greeted by a dim interior covered with dust. He cast a quick look around before he went straight to the four-poster bed that was located on one side of the room. He laid Cassiopeia on the bed and made the dust disappear with a wave of his hand.

His gaze swept over the room once again. The heavy green curtains were drawn shut, letting only a few rays of light inside the room. Everything looked dark and gloomy.

Tom forced himself to look down at Cassiopeia. He had deliberately avoided looking at her ever since that moment when he had sensed his magic burst from his wand.

His magic, taking her pain away.

Taking her heartbeat away.

Ever since he had cast that curse he had so desperately wanted to avoid.

Never before had his magic been so reluctant, never before had casting a curse cost him so much effort, so much strength. Never had it hurt so much.

Gazing down at her in the dim light, he could make out her body but her features were hardly visible. She looked as if she were sleeping. Tom narrowed his eyes.

He realized that his voice sounded strangely hoarse when he whispered into the silence, "I promise I'll find a way to cure this curse before the last drop of your blood is spilled. I promise I'll find a way to get you back."

He paused and pursed his lips, averting his gaze. Then he shook his head, a slightly stubborn expression marring his features, and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"But I'll only do it if I figure out how to make you immortal first. Don't blame me, but I swear I'll never go through this pain again."

Tom looked back at Cassiopeia. He felt his temper flare. He should never have given in to her absurd wish to not make a Horcrux. He should have insisted on her creating one. Then he would never have had to experience this once again.

His lip curled with suppressed anger. He had never told Cassiopeia about the former timeline, had never told her how she had tricked him into cursing her in the end, that first time around. And yet she had still managed to make him curse her again. He huffed.

Even though this time it had been his conscious decision, he felt like she had somehow tricked him again. He knew he was being irrational but his voice sounded nevertheless a little accusing when he hissed, "You know, I never want to see you dying again. Twice is by far more than enough."

He clenched his fists in his pockets and felt his nails digging into his skin, trying to keep his temper in check. It was at times like this that he still couldn't believe what she had done to his emotionless self. How she had succeeded in getting through to him. How she had made him care.

His features softened just the slightest bit and he bent over her and brushed his lips against her forehead. "I promise I'll make it count. I promise I'll never forget."


	41. Epilogue

Tom stood in the gloomy looking guestroom of a small inn in the north of Scotland. He eyed the girl who was sitting on the rim of the bed, looking at him, and, once again, he was struck by the thought how much she reminded him of Cassiopeia.

"Where is Mum?" Grace asked, her eyes questioning.

Tom clenched his jaw. Somehow he had dreaded this question. He surely wasn't the right person to adequately tell an eleven-year-old that her mother was dead.

He suppressed a scowl. It hadn't taken him long to find Grace and Ben thanks to the Locating Charm he had put on Grace the night he had first met her. He had come looking for her as soon as he had laid Cassiopeia to rest in this deserted bedroom back home. And, of course, this bloody question concerning Cassiopeia's whereabouts had to be the first thing Grace was asking.

He exhaled slowly, carefully scanning the girl's features, trying to decide what to say.

"She won't be with us for...a while," he finally answered evasively.

Grace immediately narrowed her eyes. "Where is she? What happened to her?" Her voice was more urgent now.

"That's...difficult." Tom held her gaze.

"Then explain it to me," Grace retorted exasperatedly.

Tom pursed his lips. He suppressed the desire to just get it over with and tell her what had happened, because he strongly suspected that he probably had to be a little less blunt with a child and show a little more empathy.

Yet, even though he had faked any kind of empathy a lot in his younger years, this wasn't the same, because this time it wasn't supposed to be fake. This time it had to be real.

This time it mattered.

When he remained silent, Grace cocked her head. "When Ben apparated us away I saw these men..." She drew a deep breath. "Did...did they kill her?"

Tom looked back at her. Her eyes were searching his face, and he made up his mind. If she was only a little like him, she would want the truth and wouldn't give a damn about how he told her.

"You see, when I got to her she had been hit by a curse that was bound to kill her..." His voice was even.

"But she wasn't dead yet? So you could heal her?" Grace sounded hopeful.

Tom clenched his teeth. "Things aren't that easy, Grace."

"But Mum says you're a great wizard. Why didn't you just perform the countercurse?" The girl eyed him reproachfully.

Tom looked back at her. "As I said, things aren't that easy," he repeated. After a moment he added, "She was hit by a very dark curse, very advanced Dark Arts."

"But I thought you knew everything about the Dark Arts!"

Tom gave a short humourless laugh. "There's no such thing as a textbook about the Dark Arts with which you can just learn dark curses and countercurses. The Dark Arts are much more complex. They are endless and ever-changing. Surely that's part of their beauty, but that also makes it absolutely impossible to know every curse and even less a cure for every curse. There are lots of curses which don't even have any known countercurses." His voice trailed away.

Grace stared back at him, her eyes suddenly strangely empty. "So you let Mum die?"

Tom shifted his weight slightly. "I...she asked me to end her pain." He watched some kind of emotion flash through Grace's eyes. "And I did it. I couldn't save her."

Grace just continued to stare back at him, obviously trying to grasp what he had said. Finally she whispered, "You...," but she immediately broke off again.

Tom saw tears building up in her eyes and, suddenly, he felt strangely out of place. He watched her for a moment. Then, hesitantly, he sat down next to her and put an arm around her. He felt her bury her face in his robes, her tears slowly soaking them, and suddenly he realized that something inside him just wanted to join her in her mourning for this special person they both had lost.

And yet, he knew that as long as Grace was there, Cassiopeia wasn't entirely gone. He just had to keep her safe. He closed his eyes. He would take good care of her. He had promised it, and he would do whatever it took to keep his promise.

He didn't know how long they had been sitting there, but when Grace's sobs finally became fewer, he bent down to her and whispered into her hair, "Let's go home."


End file.
